The Ultra Crystals: Gaiden
by Megazord Master
Summary: Leaving Earth behind, he thought he would have time to sort out his problems. Now, he's getting involved in an alien civil war on another planet. Well, no one said being a Ranger was boring...
1. Distress Call

The Ultra Crystals: Gaiden

Chapter 1: Distress Call

The thrum of the engines below him sent a shudder of anticipation through his body. He wondered if he was making the right decision, leaving the earth in the protection of Liz and the others. However, he knew he needed to reconnect with his inner 'human' in order to face the greater evils he had seen in his vision. Plus, there was the little niggle of actually killing a person and not feeling anything that was the greater issue. His double had been infused with triple the usual magic so the others didn't have to travel to Sydney so often. What had seemed like an over precaution was turning out to be a life-saver; in more ways than one.

Easing the throttle forward, Weihan looked out the main view screen at the cliff in front of him before releasing the brake. The Meteor Masher shot forwards with a sharp jerk and he applied more speed. The Power told him that the Zord needed to be accelerating faster for lift-off to take place. Gunning the throttle, he pushed the Zord to the limit as the edge of the cliff came closer and closer. He would only get one shot at this. Actually, he would get several...but he had to at least make it work on the first try. He owed himself that much at least.

Pulling back on the controls, he felt the wheels of the Zord lift from the ground as the thrusters and underside jets took over. There was a brief moment of free fall before the stomach dropping sensation that always seemed to come with rapid ascent. Flipping the switch to activate the anti-glare shield, he fought with the wind currents to achieve a near vertical position. The brilliant blue sky smiled almost mockingly at him, as if it knew what had happened in the past. Shaking his head, he bit his lip and pushed down on the pedals.

The blue turned to purple, and that purple turned to the inky blackness of space. Turning on the gravity field, the Orange Ranger glanced in the side view screen to the planet below. Somewhere on the blue, green and orange rock lay the woman of his dreams...but he had promised AJ that he wouldn't come for her yet. Bree had proven that she could be trusted to help the others in bringing in Shannon, no matter how much the other girl fought. Of course, she had Scorpireno looking after her and the Powers had melded, so there was no problem there.

Pushing the accelerator forward, he raced to the Moon in a matter of seconds. He could see lights coming from the old Moon Palace that had belonged to Lord Zedd and he wondered how long Xonix and Jabarkas had been there. Sighing, he shrugged the thought out of his mind. That was something to worry about if he managed to get his head on straight. He debated with himself about firing a laser at the Palace to see what would happen, but he chose not to. It wouldn't be right for him to start a battle when he was running from his problems.

After all, that was what he was doing; running and not talking about it. Even though he had told himself that talking would do no good for his situation, there was the persistent doubt that nagged in the back of his mind. The doubt spoke of when he had consoled Twilight with his words after Creeper had forced her to harm her friends and when she had seen innocents killed in front of her. The other side of that argument was that Twilight didn't kill them herself...and feel nothing inside. Maybe Xonix had been right when he said he was turning into a monster. No, he had to stop thinking like that. After all, if he was the monster Xonix has made him out to be, the self-styled Supreme Commander of the TW Battle Group wouldn't have signed him up on the spot.

Thinking of that encounter brought a small smile to his face. In a few years, he would be assembling a team and going on Planet Patrols to see if a nearby planetary system could ever be colonized. Of course, there were rumours that a small group of displaced aliens were running banditry operations there but they didn't have access to the tech 'Frizz' had waiting in the wings. However, he would have to ensure that the Earth was protected against whatever Xonix could throw at them. Well, that was providing he could leave Equestria in one piece. Still, he had no doubt piloting a Meka, as the robots were called, would be similar to a Zord. He supposed he would have to start out in a vehicle first. He didn't know why, but something about the Cobra Hovertank sketch had caught his eye.

Setting the Zord on autopilot, he turned to the screen to his right and flicked a switch. Immediately, information began scrolling across the screen; information that had been taken from Zordon's Archives in the Ultra Cavern. Wherever he would go, he could just hit a button and any information Zordon or his allies had about the sector would be displayed in front of him. It was almost like an information GPS of sorts. How it knew what planets were around him, he had absolutely no idea...but he guessed he didn't have to know for it to work. From what he could tell, Saturn held the remains of many ancient refineries that were held up by powerful anti-gravity jets. They had been harvesting the gases in the atmosphere for some long-forgotten reason and were sending them to another planetary system.

Biting back a yawn, he checked the auto-pilot controls before making a move out of his chair. He had absolutely no idea where he was going, yet still wanted to have some semblance of rest before he got there. He had almost made it out of the cockpit before a siren started blaring. Whirling around, narrowly missing smacking into the closing door, he scanned the consoles to see what was making the racket. Much to his surprise, he saw it was the communications station.

"Please help us! My name is Muitime and my sister and I are in great danger from an uprising!"

Exhaling in frustration, he forced himself to turn around and all bit slapped his hand into the transmission button. He was aware of a slight hardness in his voice but couldn't muster up enough energy to care.

"This is the Orange Ranger; state your position and current situation."

"The Orange Ranger? Why...anyway, I am trapped in the Central Core with my sister and our Rangers. We are surrounded on all sides by an armed uprising and we cannot free ourselves."

"I'll be there as soon as I can."

He closed the communication channel and paused. He had forgotten to ask the voice what planetary system they were on but the log would have that information. Bringing up the most recent calls list, he scrolled through the information slowly until he saw the name. He swore loudly and wondered what god had it in for him.

It was time to visit Huran.

TBC...

AN: And so it begins.


	2. Alien Uprising

Chapter 2: Alien Uprising

It was a pretty smooth landing.

Apart from the random energy blasts that came from the crowd below and the strangely sonic cones of energy, everything was rather dull and uneventful. Stretching his arms over his head as the pounding on the outer armour tapered off, he pondered his next course of action. The trip had been around fifteen hours, going at full burn, so he had more than enough time to get something to eat and get some much needed rest. It wasn't too hard sleeping at night when the Universe was practically night anyway. His head had barely hit the makeshift pillow when the exhaustion of the battles and the arguments had finally caught up with him and he had been out like a light. His dreams had been vivid mishmashes of images, sounds and colours; yet, either by chance or purpose, he hadn't seemed to remember much of them upon waking. The only thing that seemed to stay with him was a strange sense that something was needed for everything to sort itself out. That would be all well and good, but he hadn't the slightest idea where to start.

Pushing the thoughts out of his mind, he looked out at the crowd of aliens that surrounded his Zord. Disconcertingly, all of them looked like mini versions of Jabarkas. A short distance from the Zord, he could see a larger crowd of aliens gathering around a set of heavily armoured doors. There was writing on them but it wasn't anything that could be easily understood or, for that matter, read without getting a migraine. Luckily, the translator in the Zord scanned the words and gave an approximation of their meaning: To Inner Core. That was the easy part out of the way, now the only problem he faced was how to get there without being killed, mobbed or shot at by the strange sonic blasts. The impacts didn't seem to be registering on the armour anymore and he idly wondered if it was because they were being fired from relatively close. The radio crackled once more, the white noise startling him out of his thoughts.

"Is that you in the Zord? We can teleport you directly into the Core. Flash the externals once for yes and twice for no."

The voice was growling and rough around the edges, but the Orange Ranger could hear distinctly feminine qualities in it. Suppressing the urge to turn the blasters of the Zord onto the door leading to the Core, he began nodding in confirmation before realising the Huran on the other side couldn't see him. Flashing the external lights once, he waited for the familiar tingle of teleportation to overtake him. However, instead of the expected tingle, there was a bright flash of light and a vague sensation of movement. Gripping the edge of his seat as he waited for the dizziness to pass, he thought about what he was doing on a planet far from home. It would have been so easy for him to have switched off the radio, to shove the issue onto someone else to deal with. Yet, he had accepted the call when he had issues and problems of his own to deal with. The question burning its way into his conscious mind was: why?

Shaking his head, he stepped towards the Main Hatch. The answers to that question wouldn't come to him now and they would most likely never come to him if he forced the issue with his inner psyche. Making sure that his Laser was secure in its holster; he pressed the control panel and waited for the slight depressurisation. After all, he had no idea what the air pressure outside was like. For all he knew, he would be crushed to a messy pulp the moment he stepped outside. All too soon, the hatch slid open and he felt…well, nothing. It was just like the atmosphere on Eltare and Phaedos and it was breathable. Inhaling one long breath of air into his lungs, he wrinkled his nose slightly as a faint odour of sulphur wafted past. He lifted his left wrist and tapped the panel on the far side of his combined Morpher for it to analyse the components of the air.

Stepping onto the metallic floor, he looked around at the area he was in. Whatever it was, technology lined the walls and ceiling and power conduits spread out like a vast network of veins, arteries and capillaries. Lights blinked on and off in a slow and steady rhythm that reminded the Orange Ranger of breathing or a heartbeat; yet, to think that anyone was alive or being sustained by machines was enough to make him shudder. There was no sign of the owner of the voice but that was to be expected, really. For them to teleport in a strange Ranger with a Zord and not observe his actions for a short while would be insane and undermine the security and integrity of the Rangers, no matter what team. A soft beep made him look down at the analyser and roll his eyes. There was sulphur in the air, all right, but not enough to do any serious or permanent harm. It would just make every breath seem like there were rotting eggs somewhere.

Why did he feel…watched?

"Greetings, Ranger."

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere at once. He groaned to himself at using the tired cliché, but it was truer than before. His fingers twitched, ready to pull out his Laser at a moment's notice but he forced himself to calm down. Drawing his hands away from his holster, he stood in a neutral, yet rather forced, position. He scanned the walls, only then noticing the seemingly hundreds of camera lenses built in to the walls – almost like an extremely large set of compound eyes. As the only other alternative was a set of spider eyes, he decided to keep the remnants of his arachnophobia at bay and think of them as compound eyes. However, that sensation soon quieted down inside him as eight figures walked in from opening ports. He bit down hard on his impulse to draw his blaster then and there and looked at them as closely as he dared. Seven of the figures were wearing what looked to be two-piece outfits made out of some metallic and billowing cloth; a black gunmetal belt encircled their waists and held a small blaster. Their shirts were strangely coloured as well and it made the seven figures look like Rangers – albeit ones that apparently had no Red Ranger. Five of the seven looked to be females but he wasn't going to go around guessing their gender just yet. After all, if he was wrong…well, that would mean that Jabarkas was female and that would open up a whole other kettle of fish about the 'merging' thing.

"I assure you, he is one hundred percent male. To alleviate your concerns, I can only read surface thoughts. It is a habit that has left me shunned by my people on many occasions."

All right, so there was a chick somewhere that could read his surface thoughts. That would both make communication and dealing with his problem much more interesting. Biting back a sigh, he shook his head and looked at the colours of the Rangers. Grey, purple, blue, green, black, yellow and white…still no red anywhere in the team and he absently wondered why that was the case. Then, remembering about the thought-reading abilities of the unseen figure, he shook off the train of thought and looked at the eighth figure. The female, and he knew it was a female, was dressed in what seemed to be armour worn by a Roman Centurion. It brought back strange and painful memories of his battle with Apollonia and he fought to shake them from his mind. Her silver and gold breastplate was lined with brilliant blue piping and there were staves of some kind strapped to her back. There was a funky-looking wristband clasped to her right wrist and he didn't have the slightest idea what it was. For all he knew, it was a device to blow himself, his Zord and the surrounding area up.

"Hardly, it is just a remnant from happier-ish times. I wish I could come out and greet you myself, but as it stands…you are in me."

He saw the female in the breastplate shake her head and laugh and some unknown joke. The other individuals joined in and soon he was the only one not laughing. He fought hard to relax as he was a guest in the domain of…whatever Ranger team was battling whatever was going on outside. As the 'Elder' slowly stopped laughing, she looked at him with kind eyes and stepped towards him. As she came closer, he could make out the finer details such as the horns on her head; as with Jabarkas, there was a horn at each of the 'corners' of her head, though they were chipped and slightly yellowed. The device on her wrist glowed with a power that seemed to call out to him, promising power to crush those in his path. However, the only thing that stopped him from accepting its call was that it felt…weaker than the Ultra Powers, far weaker. Well, that and it felt tethered to the Hurantic female in front of him. He sighed softly and rubbed the back of his neck. He could work out everything later but it was time to get down to business and apparently the female Huran knew it as well. She nodded once and then spoke in the same growling voice that he had heard earlier.

"We need your help."

TBC…


	3. Meeting the Rangers

Chapter 3: Meeting the Rangers

"Elder Blue! This is an outrage!"

Unsurprisingly, it seemed there was an outcry about them reaching out for help. The younger female in the black outfit stormed up to them with fire in her eyes. The voice that had come from the throat of the Ranger was the same growl that he supposed all Hurans had, yet there was a thread of…well, he wasn't so sure if he was right to be saying it but, to his ears, it 'felt' like steel and seduction. Her clawed hand dropped to her belt and pulled out a strange weapon, pointing it at the Orange Ranger. The Elder shook her head and turned to the Ranger to attempt to diffuse the situation and inhaled sharply. Weihan had seen that weapon before and had seen what devastating effects it could have on an unprotected individual. His mind was back at the scene of the final battle with Xonix, Jabarkas swinging the dual-bladed dagger that had turned into a laser blade mid-swing. His body moved of its own accord and before he knew it, both blades were locked in combat – her laser dagger/blade and his Raptor Sabre. The Elder Huran gaped in shock as they battled for 'supremacy', but he was still lucid enough to speak over the ear-ending sounds of scraping metal and the whining reactor.

"This how you always treat your guests? By battling them straight off the bat? I'm starting to understand Jabarkas a bit better now."

Unfortunately, his words had a strengthening effect on the Ranger and he found himself taking a few steps back. He could see the other Rangers milling about, watching the battle with some amount of interest. The Elder seemed rather amused by his comment and was mumbling to herself about…something. Shifting his stance, he pushed his Sabre up with a yell and felt the other Ranger stumble back. He lunged forward with his Sabre pointed directly at her heart, only to stop in shock as a veil of shimmering energy covered her body. Knowing what was coming, he looked toward the Elder and the other Rangers for help or assistance. They looked back with blank expressions – although the Green Ranger looked at him with something akin to pity on her face. Forcing a smile, he ground his teeth together as the Ranger armour solidified onto her body.

It was a rather simple getup compared to the fancy outfits of the Ultra Rangers. An all-black bodysuit hugged her figure, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination, while her gloves and boots were pure and pristine white. A black and blue belt encircled her waist and he could see two holsters on either side, one of them empty. Her helmet looked like it was devoid of any distinguishing features and was just a black state. The only other flashes of colour on the Ranger were the shoulder-pads on her armour, the silver metal reminding him uncomfortably of Lord Zedd's armour. So stunned was he with her transformation that he almost missed seeing the flash of the blade as it powered towards him.

Almost.

He ducked under the blow and slid past the attacking Ranger, mind whirling. If they were all on the same side, why was the Black Ranger attacking him? Was it jealousy or was it some kind of female Huran mating ritual? He fervently hoped it wasn't the latter as he didn't really want to be shackled to an alien woman for the rest of his life…although he was sure he could look past her amazing body. Shaking his head to clear his mind, he could almost hear the slightly scandalised chuckles of the…whatever it was that was monitoring him. He reached within himself and flash-morphed, catching the blades on the side of the Black Ranger's weapon with one armoured hand. Interestingly enough, the edges of the blade didn't bite into the material too much or, if they did, he didn't notice. The body language of the Black Ranger seemed to convey surprise and admiration for a split-second before the blade pulled back sharply. He was really wondering what the deal with the Black Ranger was. Flipping back to give him some breathing room, he held up a free hand in the universal gesture of surrender.

"Look, I don't want to fight you."

"Why is that? You think females are weak?"

He swallowed hard and thought up images of the other Ultra Rangers, hoping that the 'hive mind' or whatever was looking into his thoughts could see that he led a team of mostly female Rangers. With a grunt of contempt, the Black Ranger lunged once more and he was barely able to block the strike from taking his head off. As it was, he could feel the low vibration of the laser blade as it hummed against his helmet, the material twisting and warping. He hoped he wasn't going to have to go to Ninjor to restyle the helmet as he kind of liked intimidating his enemies with the realistic design. Unfortunately, it seemed the Hurantic Ranger wasn't intimidated at all by the realism and was doing her best to kill him…or force him to sit on the sidelines. However, he had been diverted from his course because of some sense of duty and he wasn't going to let some upstart young Ranger tell him what to do. The Black Ranger hissed at him in her oddly seductive voice.

"You come from a world unused to fighting the real battles and you have no idea what real war is like!"

He snarled in response and felt the anger build up within him. Huran or not, the Ranger had no right to say that he hadn't seen the full scope of war and the death and danger it could inflict. Images flashed up in his mind of the battles against Xonix, the death of Steven Johnston and his resurrection as the monstrous Contender, the Countdown where everything had gone to Hell in a hand basket, his fights against the Ultra Psycho Rangers on both sides of the dimensional barrier and his death at the hands of Psychogre. He heard the mental gasps from the strange watcher but paid it no heed. Of course, he had to be careful not to kill the Black Ranger outright but he surely wasn't going to stand around and watch as she insulted everything he had fought against. Energy crackling around him, he stood slowly and inhaled slowly. His voice was low and he put extra effort to make it as cold and as frosty as he could. Judging from the shivers of the other Rangers around him, he may have overdone it.

"I have faced horrors that you would run from, little girl. I could have walked away but I chose to come here and help…only to have you question my presence and attack me unprovoked. Now, I have only two words to say to you."

His words had the desired effect on his opponent as she stiffened, visibly bristling about being called a 'little girl'. Smiling under his helmet, he waited a few beats before speaking once more. He wondered if it would work off-world, but since it had worked in Equestria…well, if it didn't work he had other tricks up his sleeve.

"Defend yourself."

At those words, he launched himself forward and called upon the Hellfire Armour. A blazing fireball engulfed him, ghostly arms snapping on Hell's Armour piece by piece. A mournful wailing echoed throughout the chamber as he pulled the Dragonbreath Blade from its holster. A snap-hiss signalled the activation of the flaming blade and he brought it down on the Ranger with a berserker scream. The blow was deflected by a last-minute slash and he leapt into the air, landing behind the Ranger and stabbing at her back with his Sabre, pushing her onto her hands and knees. Even through the haze of the Hellfire Armour, he could appreciate the armouring of the Huran Ranger's suit as the point didn't even pierce all the way through. Via scanners in his helmet, he could see that there were only a few more layers of armour to go until his blade tasted alien blood…but he had had enough. Willing himself to calm down, he removed his blade from the back of the Ranger and disengaged the Hellfire Armour, smiling slightly as he heard a small groan of protest from the ghostly figures. As his Ultra Armour dissolved off his body, he heard the voice of the Elder.

"Well done, Ranger. Yes, it will be a great boon to our cause if you will help us. My name is Muitime and, as you heard, I am called the Elder Blue. This is my team of Rangers – Droas the Yellow Ranger, Reefti the Blue Ranger, Xristi the Green Ranger, Krewo the Purple Ranger, Raluna the Grey Ranger, Ulani the White Ranger…and the leader of the Huran Rangers, Zriac the Black Ranger."

Ah. Oh, this was many levels of awkward…however justified it may have been. The Leader of the Rangers had practically attacked him out of what; pride or the thought that Jabarkas was supposed to be a planetary hero or something? The Ranger on the ground muttered something that he couldn't really understand and roughly stood onto her feet as her armour sloughed away in a shimmer of light. Nodding once to the Elder, she stalked out of the room…but not before giving him a long and slow look up and down. Honestly, if all the females Rangers he met kept doing that to him, he would feel nothing more than a piece of meat before too long. All right, maybe a piece of meat that had the ability to explode into fire at will and to transform into an invincible warrior against evil. Maybe he was stretching that metaphor just a bit too far. Muitime smiled faintly and shook her head, extending her arms out in front of her.

"You are tired from your journey and the unexpected battle. When you are rested, we will tell you about the problem plaguing our world."

He nodded once and felt a light touch on his left shoulder. Glancing in that direction, he could see the Green Ranger, Xristi, smile softly at him once more before leading him away. Something kept nagging at the back of his mind though; something about the way Zriac had attacked him so soon after his comment about Jabarkas. It was probably something about him defiling someone she thought of as a hero but, knowing his luck, he seriously doubted it. Giving the mental command for the Meteor Masher to deactivate, he asked the question that was brewing inside.

"Why did the Black Ranger attack me after I said that thing about Jabarkas?"

Muitime's answer surprised him greatly.

"She is his daughter."

TBC…


	4. Black Thoughts

AN: Italics = telepathic thoughts

Chapter 4: Black Thoughts

Well, it was cosy…and that was about it.

The room was about as spacious as a large closet with a smaller adjoining room that served as a bathroom. Amusingly, he didn't see any sort of toilet facilities; just a simple hand-held shower unit and a mirror. The rest of the room wasn't much different. A terminal was set into the right wall with a roll-out seat, next to a small circular window that overlooked the defences outside. It was kind of strange how he had never noticed the large turrets pointing outward when he had landed…or maybe he had and they were the ones that were blasting the strange sonic energy at him. The mob of protesters, picketers or random Hurans was still there, their shouts and screams either too distant to be heard or rendered silent by the window. Xristi had left him alone after he had settled in but the Green Ranger had told him not to be too judgemental with Zriac and her lineage. He thought it was kind of cute how hard she blushed when asked about the lack of toilet facilities as he had no idea Hurans could turn that red. He had actually debated on asking her to show him how any such facility was used…but that would have probably been pressing his luck a bit too far.

The lack of space meant there was no bed or cot that could fit in the space. Instead, there was a strange sack that hung from the ceiling. It certainly seemed to be comfortable enough and, either by a combination of magic or magnets, gave the feeling of lying down in a bed. Of course, he had to zip it up to ensure he didn't fall out and had almost fallen asleep in it then and there…if he hadn't had other things on his mind. The question of what he was doing on Huran was the most prevalent as he was in no shape to be helping any sort of Rangers with anything. Hell, he had even turned down the suggestions that the others had thrown at him to get him to stay. While the thought of the Crystal Rangers and Ranger Sentinels stripping and holding him down with their bodies was sorely tempting, his problem was that he wouldn't be able to get any serious thinking done. Of course, in a strange roundabout fashion, that was his problem now as well, except this time it was a combination of the Huran Rangers and Zriac's father. Zriac, herself, was also a bit of a distraction as the Black Ranger was rather pretty for an alien. Resting his forehead on the glass, he hoped that the mind-reading abilities of the room weren't so prevalent.

_"No such luck, young Ranger."_

He closed his eyes in exasperation and tried to wipe all thoughts from his mind, something that lasted all of five seconds. Lips curling up into a half-smile, he chuckled under his breath and thought about asking who the strange voice was. He stayed his tongue, however, as he didn't want to offend whoever it was behind the 'wall' and risk being thrown out into the unfamiliar environment. Pushing himself away from the window, he pulled out the chair in front of the terminal and sat down. The room was almost like living in a cubicle and that was an image he wanted to erase from his mind as, well, it brought up everything that had happened the day before. Christ on a stick, was it only a day ago that everything had taken a nosedive into a wood chipper? It seemed like a lifetime ago and nothing much had happened in between either…except for his rather unexpected diversion. Yet, here he was on an alien planet, surrounded by beings who bore familiarity to Jabarkas and whose Black Ranger either wanted to kill him or kiss him. Add to that some sort of mind reading computer system and a so-called Elder that didn't seem that old and…well, he didn't want to finish that thought. So, why did the question of who the voice in the walls was keep popping into his mind?

_"It is rather all right. I have had long enough to come to terms with my situation. If I could walk amongst my people, I would be called an Elder for that is the highest rank a non-Royal Huran can attain. Well, not that there are any more Royals left with our last King killing himself before the end of the Xon'ixia debacle…"_

He felt the hairs on his neck stand on end at the mention of that name. He had heard it before…but where? Shaking off the strangeness, he motioned for the voice to continue.

_"Anyways, I would be known as Elder Green. My name is Muiesaf and I am Muitime's sister. My sister and I served on the team that repelled the attack as the Green Ranger; however, victory came at a great cost. Our Red Ranger was forced to make a terrible choice that sealed his fate from us and removed him from the Power completely. In that battle, I received grievous wounds that forced me to live out my days in a Healing Tube. Unfortunately, advances in technology and healing made the technology the tube was made of obsolete over a very short period of time…which meant there was no one on hand that knew how to fix things when they broke. Needless to say, my situation became untenable sooner than I would have liked."_

Weihan nodded, internally wincing as he imagined the fear and psychological horror that would have happened to the Ranger. Unable to move, what thoughts would have gone through her mind as her 'expiry date' drew closer? Swallowing hard, he struggled to wipe those thoughts from his mind. He doubted Muiesaf would want to relive those months of uncertainty.

"So, what did you do?"

A heavy sigh…or a synthesised version, he wasn't sure which.

_"I was forcibly melded into the Planetary Processing Core. Well, that is to say, the Core was built around me. Soon, it became the hub for all Ranger-centric activity. However, during the construction and the melding of my body, there was an unforseen complication. I am unsure about how much you know of Jabarkas' history…"_

She trailed off and he furrowed his forehead. What did he really know about Jabarkas other than the fact he wanted all Rangers dead and, according to Zordon, had once slain a Karmic Dragon in single combat? The fact of the matter was, he didn't want to know anything about the Huran warrior's past. Of course, with Zriac's bombshell having been dropped on his head…he supposed he had to know about his past sooner or later. As he opened his mouth to speak, she began talking once more…apparently having pulled the answer out of his thoughts.

_"Jabarkas was the Captain of the Guard and our Red Ranger. He was also very passionate about defending the planet from the evils in space. Our fiercest fighter, he was the one who finally convinced all twelve of us to fight as a team and not individuals. I suppose it was only natural that he and I would have fallen into a whirlwind relationship. Over time, we grew closer and I think, if Xon'ixia hadn't come, I would have settled down with him. Muitime knew and approved of our relations and she knew whenever we were…intimate. With nothing but a flimsy partition separating our rooms, it's a wonder the whole planet didn't know."_

Shoving away the mental image of Jabarkas having sex out of his brain, the Orange Ranger looked out the window once more as the first of the binary suns began to set. An errant thought made its way across the front of his mind of what it would actually feel like and if it was the same 'across the board'. His eyes widened in horror as he frantically tried to scrub the thought from his mind before any stable mental images were conjured up. The last thing he needed was to be thinking about sex with a Huran like Xristi or even Zriac. Amusingly, he was more disturbed by the thought of the Huran warrior with a female of his species than the other bombshell of him being a Ranger – a Red Ranger at that. Steadying himself with a breath, he nodded once to show he was ready for her to continue.

_"Yeah, I'm guessing you didn't need to know that. Continuing on, the unforseen obstacle in my complete fusion with the Planetary Processing Core was the discovery of an under-developed foetus, safe from all of the beams and blasts that had changed my physiology. The best surgeons were employed to transfer it out of my body and into a surrogate womb but there was a catch. It could only be safely carried to term in a womb that had the same DNA as my own. Muitime never complained once as she saw it to be a 'last wish' of sorts. However, there were complications in the birth and the baby was placed into a miniature Healing Tube until around seventeen of your Earth years ago."_

Absently nodding, he shifted in the chair just as the first sun vanished behind the horizon completely. The level of light outside dropped significantly and he could even see the crowd of Hurans disassembling slowly. He had no doubt they would be back though, the only question was when. Her words washed across his mind a second time and he frowned. She had mentioned there being twelve Rangers 'back in the day', but apparently that number had dwindled down to seven for reasons unknown. What had happened for the other five to be dropped from the roster? Opening his mouth to ask, he was rather unsurprised when the Elder answered.

_"Yes, it is correct that there were twelve Rangers in the old days. The Mighty Weapons, we were called by the enemies we fought against. When the call was set out for a new team to be assembled, the former Grey Ranger devised eight new Power Braces as those were the only Power Cores still intact from Xon'ixia's attack. Our enemies are after the jewels of the Crown of the Gods; why they think those are here is beyond our understanding. Before you ask again, I said eight Power Braces…although seven Rangers are remaining. Our Cyan Ranger left shortly after Zriac was chosen as Leader, claiming we had overstepped our boundaries. His whereabouts are unknown, though there have been stirrings in the more remote areas."_

He nodded, filing the information away in the back of his mind. Knowing his luck, everything that happened here would send his life spiralling into even more chaos than before. He opened his mouth to ask another question, when a rap at the door silenced him. Not knowing who would be visiting so soon, he summoned his Laser to him and slowly stood up. Making his way to the door, he began formulating strategies on what he would do if there had been a breach. Slipping the weapon into its holster, he tensed his body and opened the door…only to blink in shock at the figure on the other side.

"What…what are you doing here?"

TBC…


	5. Preliminary Briefing

Chapter 5: Preliminary Briefing

He stifled a yawn as he waited for the briefing to start.

Blinking the tiredness out of his eyes, he glanced over to the tall form of the Black Ranger. The Huran female had surprised the hell out of him by showing up to explain how to use the unfamiliar facilities. She had also stammered out a not-quite apology about attacking him out of the blue and had turned the cutest shade of red. Stifling a groan, he bent his head back and tried to think of something – anything – to quell his raging hormones. Even though he had promised himself to not have any…encounters with the Huran Rangers, his body had still betrayed him at the uniform Zriac had been wearing. In fact, he had been so aroused that he had all but forced Muiesaf to chime in at random moments with highly technical information as a calming solution. The thought that technical notes and specifications was as effective as a cold shower was rather amusing to the Elder but she had, wisely, said nothing more to tease the Orange Ranger.

"Hey, if you want to see what we're capable of, I can show you how flexible I am…"

Unfortunately, it seemed that the other female Rangers, with the exception of Zriac and Xristi, hadn't quite gotten the message yet. He leant back farther as the Huran female in front of him tried to press her body up closer to him. Sure, he had wanted to learn more about Huran biology but having a hands-on lesson with one of the Rangers wasn't really on his agenda so damn soon. An errant thought flicked across his brain; that he had been thinking of getting closer with Zriac as she had been about to demonstrate how the shower worked…and that would probably, hopefully, require her to remove her clothing. Well, what little of it there was. He looked in her direction once more but sighed in irritation as his vision was filled with the flaming red hair of the Blue Ranger. Zriac had explained to him that hair on a Huran was as normal as on humans, but tended to get in the way during the heat of battle due to the length. Storing the hair in a modified subspace pocket was one option when in battle or when meeting a guest but would be only a temporary solution until the former Grey Ranger modified the Power Braces.

"Reefti…I don't think that…."

The Blue Ranger shot an annoyed look at Xristi and nodded once, sighing in resignation. It was so amusing to tease the human Ranger and a part of her seriously wanted to see what he could be capable of. She had heard humans could be most imaginative creatures, though she knew that Zriac would want to get him first. Lightly brushing the back of her hand against the front of his pants, she grinned at his sharp intake of breath and walked towards the Battle Station, a raised surface that maps and images could be projected above, readying herself to hear the briefing that Intelligence had gathered. Behind her, Weihan squeezed his eyes shut and exhaled slowly as Xristi came to stand next to him. He had once thought that too many female Rangers would prove to be more than he could handle at once but, like all things, he had been proven wrong time and time again. However, it seemed that everything on Huran was steadily rising towards a rather explosive climax…with the god-awful puns certainly not intended.

"If we are all ready, I would like to begin."

Shifting his thoughts away from the voluptuous alien females around him, he turned to the Battle Station and nodded once. As the Elder prepared to speak once more, he noticed the similarities between the Battle Station briefing area and the Ultra Cavern. Beside the obvious similarities in terms of space and that it was a place for the Rangers to obtain their mission briefings; he could see a few doors on the far side. He knew that one led to the elevator for the living quarters, another was for the Zord bay and Hangar and one was for the innermost parts of the Processing Core – accessible only by direct invite by Muiesaf. That explained three doors, but there was still one which led to…a place he wanted to see: the Training Rooms. Zriac had stated that she trained with the other Rangers and wanted to see if he wanted to spar with her while he was on the planet. Of course, she had used the phrase 'get hot and sweaty', which rather implied another form of close-quarters training. Unfortunately, until he knew exactly _why_ he had come onto the planet, any training would have to be postponed.

"As you are no doubt aware, there has been a recent uprising in the middle to upper class. My sister and I have watched this from a seemingly disjointed point of view but we cannot sit back idly any more. As the Orange Ranger can attest, the situation has progressed out of control. The group outside the doors have gotten their hands on sonic weaponry, most likely reverse-engineered from the defensive turrets, and enhanced vibro-blades. I estimate they will attempt to slice through the door…which puts us on a deadline to stopping the uprising before they break through."

"How long do we have?"

"Who is behind this?"

The questions came from Weihan and Zriac at practically the same time, drawing light snickers from the other Rangers. Muitime shook her head slowly and waited for the Rangers to settle down and, in the case of the Rangers concerned, return to their normal colour. A part of her wished Jabarkas could be here to reel in his daughter but chastised herself for even thinking that. If he knew then Zriac would be swallowed up into the fold of Evil, never able to wear the mantle of a Ranger ever again. On the other hand, what little she had seen of the Orange Ranger's interactions with her had had the same effect…in a rather strange and twisted way. She certainly hoped she wasn't going to have to spray both of them down with cold water soon as their rather unexpected sexual tension would soon cloud their judgement in battle. Or maybe it wouldn't…she wasn't too sure about that. Rolling her eyes at the way the two Rangers looked at each other, she chose to answer the question of her Black Ranger first.

"Muitime predicts that they will cut through the doors in five days. The secondary door will fall sooner at two days. After that, if we cannot stop the head of their organisation…it will be all over. The reign of the Elders will come to a bloody end and the rule will be given to the line of Royals once more; if such a line still exists. As for the second question, we have a short list of possible suspects."

The Elder walked up to the Station and tapped a claw on its surface. Instantly, the room darkened and four portraits winked into existence. From the general head shape, they were all Huran but that was where the similarity ended. All four individuals were grossly scarred and disfigured to the point of non-recognition. Gasps of revulsion and fear came from the Rangers and Weihan felt soft spikes brush against him as Xristi buried her face in his upper arm. Fighting the nausea that threatened to swamp him, the Orange Ranger forced himself to memorise the faces of each of the four. He had no idea why, but he had the feeling he would need whatever visual advantage he could get. The first one he looked at literally looked like he had been put through a shredder. White streaks of scar tissue ran down his face and some were even deep enough to reveal slight traces of bright green flesh underneath. The spikes on his face were ringed by tufts of sky-blue hair and twin chips of orange ice gleamed maliciously through the puffy mass of freshly healed scar tissue.

"This is Frenter, also known as The Shredder of Dreams. He is wanted for questioning in relation to a string of threats made against Carinimin, the Grey Elder, and for a series of violent uprisings that left more than fifty innocent people dead. He has been convicted of the murder of several high-ranking officials that served with the late King and for distributing several pamphlets resulting in more violence and chaos. He is to be approached with extreme caution as he carried with him his personal weapons, laser shredders."

Laser shredders…somehow he didn't want to see what they looked like up close. Seeing what they had presumably done to his face was bad enough, but something felt off. From his picture, Frenter didn't seem to be the type of Huran to have the mental capacity to come up with an armed uprising. On the other hand, he didn't have enough information to go on…which meant he would have to undertake a recon mission in the very near future. Shelving that plan for later, he looked at the second portrait and involuntarily shuddered. Whereas Frenter had given the impression of a crazed and psychotic individual, the second Huran wanted to make him scrub himself clean. The leer being given just screamed 'sex offender', an image that wasn't at all helped by the pair of blue and green rimmed sunglasses on top of his head.

"This is Dasur of the Wandering Hand Clan. He has a long-standing warrant on his head for attempted rape of several female guards and has ties to the Huran Underworld. Currently, he is also wanted by several off-world Ranger teams for questioning over the rise to power of General Grumm. His technical skills make it extremely easy for him to hack into any database he can find, though his perverted sense tends to get in the way most of the time. That said; females should not approach him. I hate to say this but it looks like the guys will have to deal with him."

A muted groan of protest from the female Rangers made him raise an eyebrow questioningly. Xristi, who by now had removed her face from his arm, gave him a weak smile and a small shake of her head. What that was supposed to mean, he hadn't the slightest idea but he would have to figure out everything along the way. He certainly hoped the Yellow and Purple Rangers were up to the task of recon. If not…well, it wasn't as if he was in a hurry to go anywhere else. As he looked at the portrait for the third Huran, a thought began to worm its way into his mind. The criminals that had been fleshed out, even the ones that hadn't, didn't look like they were the sort that possessed the intelligence for a high-end uprising. He shook his head slightly and wondered how any sort of uprising could even be classified as 'low-end' but, as with all minor tangents his brain took, that wasn't the point. Unless one of the remaining criminals had the Huran equivalent of Mensa candidacy, someone else was pulling the strings. Although, said the strange voice at the back of his mind that sounded like his mother, he had jumped to the wrong conclusions before.

"This is Rookac, also known as The Freeil Master. His skills at manipulation of others have made him the target of many assassination attempts. Off the record, he is wanted for questioning over the disappearance of the Robotic Integrator from the Ranger Vaults."

Great, that was exactly what he needed to hear: a Huran criminal with his claws on Ranger-level technology. The portrait of the Huran didn't really fit the mould of the 'Huran behind the Huran' but, going on face value, he would have instantly said that Rookac was the one behind everything. Long and sharp spikes jutted from the corners of his face like spears and his teeth glinted dangerously in the light. Suppressing an involuntary shudder, he looked at the eyes of the Huran more closely and hastily bit the inside of his cheek to keep from laughing out loud. Perched on the 'nose' of the Huran was a pair of incredibly thick glasses. As the picture rotated slowly, he could hear the other Rangers' barely suppressed laughter as the thickness of the lenses was made apparent. If he were to ever face him in the heat of battle, all he would need to do to ensure victory would be to knock off his glasses…but he doubted things would be that easy. The fact that he had Ranger-level tech was also nothing to be scoffed at as, freaky glasses and manipulation aside, he was just a civilian with delusions of grandeur. He had no idea what Freeil was, but if it was used in the same way as a human would say chess master…

"The only problem with including him in the list of suspects is that he has no real motivation behind his crimes, other than sheer boredom. The son of a talented pastry chef and shield-maker, he could have had award-winning careers in either profession but he chose the life of crime. Possibly it could have been a third option, but we're still looking into the circumstances behind his change of career. He may be the one that started everything or he may have been deliberately placed in the line-up. Nevertheless, he is to be approached with extreme caution as his words can cause you to question your views and beliefs."

Looking around the room once more, he rolled his eyes at the stoic faces of many of the Huran Rangers. In fact, with the exception of Xristi, Zriac, Reefti and that rather uptight Yellow Ranger, they looked like mental manipulation via words had never crossed their minds. Sighing slightly, he wondered exactly who they had been battling against before the current crisis. Well, if their 'Big Bad' decided to send down a monster in the chaos, he would see for himself the strength of true off-world assailants…that weren't Xonix, Jabarkas and anyone else under the banner of the now-defunct United Alliance of Evil. Although, thinking about it in depth, he wasn't really impressed with the mentality of Huran's Rangers with the exception of the ones he had mentioned previously. They seemed to be slightly more immature than what he was used to dealing with and seemed to be rookies in every sense of the word. They would change in battle, that was a thought he was sure of, but it didn't seem likely that they would be getting anything done soon, making the chances of his recon mission a whole lot likelier.

"The last person of interest is Lidars the Darkness. Very little is known about him as he appeared on the radar a few years ago, amassing a wealth of powerful allies and weaponry in a very short span of time. His crimes range from illegal pirating of banned technologies to being the overseer in many drug-fuelled orgies involving minors. The oddest thing is that no-one, save for a few of his very closest advisors has ever seen his true face. He doesn't do any of the work himself but takes credit for everything – even the failed plans."

Weihan's eyes narrowed as he looked at the last portrait. Indeed, it wasn't an actual picture of the Huran, but an artist impression that had been apparently sketched from a description. The face was concealed behind a strange mask that looked almost Ranger-ish; given the way that an opaque visor hid the eyes and upper 'nose' from view and the strange infinity-symbol over the mouth area. The colouration of the mask was also strange; being a light cyan with grey and red streaks. Having seen Zriac's Ranger form, he was tempted to compare it to that but he had seen his fair share of monsters imitating Rangers in the past. From behind the lip of the mask, he could see thin wisps of blue and aqua hair, contrasting with the shocking pink horns poking from the edges of the mask. Muitime pressed the same button and the portraits vanished, the lights staying somewhat dim. The Elder Huran opened her mouth to speak again but was cut off as a high-pitched buzzing siren split the air. He could see Zriac silently swear to herself and straighten up as an image flickered into existence.

If he didn't know better, Weihan would have thought the attack was being streamed live from Sydney as it showed a monstrous beast rampaging through the streets. Brushing away the errant thought that the streets looked similar to ones in Auckland, he saw the meagre police force trying to stop the rampage…rather poorly in his opinion. Swallowing hard at the sound of tearing flesh and screams that were abruptly cut-off, he steeled his body and prepared to morph into action. However, all notion of fighting left him as light flooded the area – allowing him to get a good look at the monster. Whatever it was, it looked like a feathered human with black and purple paint smeared over its body. While that wouldn't be scary on other days, it was just too damning for him. On screen, almost as if it knew it was being watched, the monster reared back; exposing the red line that stretched lengthwise on its stomach. Dimly aware that all eyes were on him, he looked up at Muitime and shook his head slowly. He wanted to fight and everything in his body was screaming at him to take action but…the image of the woman's death kept coming to him. It seemed that he would be examining his role in that death a whole lot sooner than he had wanted to.

It looked like he would be staying for a while.

TBC…


	6. Enforcer

AN: 10K words. May the 4th be with you all.

Chapter 6: Enforcer

"You're tired."

The voice shook him out of his daze. He looked up to see Muitime looking down at him, concern etched on her features. Leaning back against the wall once more, he shook his head and rubbed his eyes. He was aware of the Rangers battling the monster on the screen and wondered how he had missed their morphing. Everything in his body seemed heavier now that he was alone with the Elders. How did time work on this planet? A glance at his watch informed him it was no later than eight PM back on Earth, late enough to have finished dinner but still early enough to study. The information he was receiving from his duplicate confirmed the random acts of studying happening, though he managed to successfully block most of it out. Honestly, the _last_ thing he wanted to be thinking about in battle was the correct and proper way to hold a plate to avoid unwanted fingerprints. Opening his mouth to speak, he found himself cut off by her voice once more.

"I apologise. I didn't take into account how the journey here must have tired you out and then, well, there was the battle against Zriac…here, let me help you back to your room."

He sighed and pushed himself off the wall. He knew he would have to open up to the Elders eventually about what had happened to make him leave Earth but that could wait. In fact, he would bet that Muiesaf already knew about what had happened and was staying quiet. His heart went out to the former Green Ranger as she was forced to see everything changing in her world and be practically permanently separated from her daughter; although he supposed it would be better for her to be living in the world of the present, rather than in the past. Shuffling down the halls, guided by Muitime, he opened his mouth and spoke in a dry voice that surprised him.

"It's not the long day…I did something terrible in my most recent battle and I guess it's finally catching up to me now."

"What did you do?"

Her voice was flat, yet held the tiniest twinge of curiousity. He didn't know if he should explain or not as it might destroy any good will she had towards him. On the other hand, Muiesaf would have known by reading his surface thoughts and there wasn't really anything positive to be taken from accidentally slicing an innocent woman in half. Sure, the battle had been won in the end and everything had been fine…but he couldn't erase the non-feeling of guilt, nor the feeling of guilt for not feeling the guilt he should have been feeling. Managing a weak chuckle at the mind-twister he had thought up, he waited for the door leading to his quarters to open. Shaking himself once more, he looked out into the empty courtyard and pulled out the chair. He could see distant explosions and fire stretching up into the sky as the Rangers battled against a monster that had been based, terrifyingly enough, on the woman that had been killed. The Huran Rangers wouldn't know the connection and he doubted they would be told as it was something immensely personal to him. He shook his head once more and a flash of burning rage rippled through his body.

Of course, he had to face his inner demons but not in the form of a monster. The Overlord or whatever it was the Rangers were fighting had sent down a creature purposefully designed to get into the psyche of the visiting Ranger. Short tongues of red flame burst from his fists as he looked at the distant battle, the flames making the Elder step back slightly. He was torn between helping the Rangers fight and wallowing in his own pity. The pity party sounded extremely good and, all things considered, he would be forgiven for indulging himself. Yet, he knew he couldn't stop…not even for one single moment of angst. If he fell into that trap, he wouldn't be able to pull himself out of the hole and he would be useless to the Rangers; although, maybe that scenario was in everyone else's best interests. He opened his mouth to wave the problem off…only his brain didn't comply with his wishes. For the next five minutes, everything spilled out about the previous battle with the Tenga Queen and the action that had caused him to flee in shame from the planet he was supposed to be protecting. For her part, Muitime took it all in without any visible emotion and her nods encouraged him to continue. Finally, he slumped back in the chair, both mentally and physically exhausted from reliving the experience.

"Is that it?"

The three words made him sit up slightly straighter. The Blue Elder was looking down at him with a cross between understanding and a strange, far-off sadness that made an involuntary shiver run through his body. He thought to what little he knew of Huran – that it was a planet where the inhabitants possessed a great deal of bloodlust and civil wars were commonplace before the fall of the King. Both sisters would have been alive and forced into the battles whether they had wanted to fight or not…but with the government the way it was previously; well, it would be a literal case of fight or die. That anyone wanted the rather unpredictable rule of the Royals back was rather unsettling to him and he was determined to find out the reasoning behind that. He shook his head slowly, not really comprehending the words that had been spoken while, on some deeper and darker level, understanding them perfectly.

"What? Of course that's it. I killed someone and didn't feel any guilt!"

The Blue Elder shook her head stiffly and kneeled down in front of him. Up close, Weihan could see the pain and frustration laced across her features, the worry for her Rangers and the barest hints of amusement that seemed to be directed at him. Frankly, he didn't know what it was that she found so hilarious as there was nothing like that in what he had said.

"Yes, you killed someone and didn't feel remorse. However, that is a normal and natural occurrence throughout the galaxy. Have you ever heard of the Intergalactic Earth Prevention Act?"

He shook his head, opening up his mind to receive the new knowledge. She continued on, still speaking in a slow and controlled tone.

"It is a set of instructions that every being in the Universe knows by heart; instructions on what to do if inhabitants of Earth travel to the far reaches of the Universe. One of the laws in it state that, if such an event may occur in which one individual feels no emotion from killing another; they will be inducted into the IEP Ranks as an Enforcer. From what I have seen with your interactions with my Rangers, I am correct to assume your other emotions were not hindered?"

Shaking his head once, he wondered exactly what she had seen…and if she had asked Muiesaf about his internal thought process. He didn't think his other emotions had been impacted by his lack of remorse and grief; rather, they had been slightly strengthened as if he was over-compensating for the loss. He certainly hoped he wasn't over-compensating in another way as he didn't need to feel inferior about that. Chuckling to himself at the mental groan of protest that echoed through his mind, he cocked his head as her next words washed over him.

"Then that is to be taken as a good sign. I believe that your lack of emotion was due to an extreme measure of stress inflicted on a very short period of time. You would have sensed these things earlier: of staring into an abyss, feelings of helplessness or extreme rage at a person or something out of your control and an inexplicable drive to win at all costs. As you have experienced the signs, emotions and inner turmoil, you have passed all the requirements to uphold the rank of Enforcer. However, I cannot give you the title until you carry out a specific task for Huran's Rangers."

He nodded slowly, not quite sure if he was going to be up for the challenge of undertaking several tasks at once. As it was, he would be doing undercover recon work to bolster his knowledge of the planet and its history, looking for Dasur with the Yellow and Purple Rangers and training with the Rangers. Plus, there was still the annoying unknown of when Xonix would wake from his Power Coma and bust through the Dimensional barrier. Hell, if he really wanted to stretch things, he could say that Jabarkas would send a monster or two to Huran to test his mettle. On the other hand, being an IEP Enforcer would surely have some pull with the new Morphin Council…even if the members were all familiar with him anyway. He could also gather Intel about the system that the TWPRC wanted to set up in, the one with the strange spatial oddities that caused the planets to 'jump' their orbits every few days. Plus, if what needed to be retrieved was a weapon he or the Rangers could use…well, he didn't want to dwell on that for too long if it was in the wrong hands.

"I need you to recover an ancient relic that is said to have immeasurable power. Only an Enforcer or an extremely powerful Ranger can accomplish this task. Will you accept this or will you continue to wallow in your own doubt and self-pity?"

He snorted lightly, his mind already made up. Wallowing in pity had its uses but he guessed those uses had been all but used up on the journey to Huran. To ensure that his mind was at peace with what was to come ahead, he would fire off a message to the Ultra Cavern and move forward with all the force and power he could muster. Seemingly satisfied with his non-verbal reply, Muitime nodded once and stood back up. She seemed to ponder something for a moment before shaking her head once and speaking.

"Your job begins in the morning."

TBC…


	7. Royalty

Chapter 7: Royalty

"I still think this is a bad idea."

A non-committal sound came from the back of his throat as he shrugged on the hooded cloak. Andros' method of camouflaging himself on semi-hostile worlds wasn't his cup of tea but he wasn't going to risk being recognised as the Orange Ranger on the planet Jabarkas had come from. Even if there was a negligible chance any of them would regard Jabarkas as a hero, there would only be one or two bad apples that had the potential to spoil the entire harvest if left unchecked. Rolling his eyes at the apple-themed imagery, he looked over his shoulder at the Black Ranger. From what he had heard from Muiesaf, the battle had gone surprisingly well after his 'acceptance' and had been wrapped up within ten minutes. The Zords hadn't even needed to be summoned, which slightly annoyed him but he dropped the subject pretty quickly. Sleeping in the vertical position wasn't altogether too different from the horizontal bunks…but there was still the small issue with knowing how the toilet and shower worked. Fortunately for him, he could teleport to the Meteor Masher and take care of the essential things before firing off the message. Hopefully, it would be well-received.

"From a tactical position, it's a necessary evil. I know next to nothing about the planet and the people you protect. Also, I'm an outsider so they may be more inclined to reveal shady information to me. No offence but you and the others stick out like sore thumbs."

Adjusting the cloak over his clothes, he stole a glance outside to the courtyard and the first of the rising suns. A small group of Hurans were already assembled there, sonic blasters at the ready. He supposed they would wait for a larger crowd to form before attempting to blast through the doors. Checking his belt for his Raptor Laser, he exhaled slowly as he looked at himself in the mirror. The cloth was a rich and deep red, almost like dark red wine, with a single orange thread woven on the hemlines. Xristi had somewhat sheepishly admitted to taking his measurements the night before on the off chance he would do something stupid. When the Green Ranger had found the time to create such a masterpiece was a question that would have to go unanswered for now. Actually, the question that was most on his mind was how she had known he would do something stupid. He had tried to ask her but she had given him a small smile and a shake of her head. Standing in front of the mirror, he looked at himself once again and tried to calm his nerves.

Apart from his Raptor Laser and his fire summoning, he would be going out there completely unarmed and unarmoured. He was leery about exposing himself as a Ranger to the general populace as they would probably try and recruit him to help their cause. His disguise would be of a simple traveller who came from a world where the light of the sun was harmful to his 'species'. To his great amazement, it seemed as though there was such a planet in the farthest reaches of the Universe whose inhabitants were as mysterious and secluded as the Spiderians had been. He doubted they were humanoids but, even if they were, that wouldn't surprise him that much. Pulling on the dark gloves that hid the last of his skin from view, he made sure everything was still in place before smiling thinly.

"The cover story you have is that you are just a traveller wandering the stars in search of your higher calling. The Elder thought that story would go well with your shadowy appearance…and your reluctance to drink Y'lchn wine."

At the name, he shuddered lightly and thanked whatever stars above that wine of Earth was made out of normal things…like grapes. Alcohol created from fermenting and decaying meat was not his cup of tea; especially due to the overpowering stench of rotting lemons. Absently, he wondered if he could use the stuff to clean the internal components of his Zord but thought against it as the last thing he wanted was for it to get inside the air conditioning vents. Adding to his slowly growing list of amusing things on Huran, the meat of the Y'lchn was rather fragrant when cooked and held an extreme amount of tenderness and flavour – so much so that seasoning was not needed. The only downsides he could see with shipping a few animals back to Australia were that they were rather large creatures and their feed was native to Huran. Also, they were carnivorous around half of the time so that would make the transport back to Earth a bit…harrowing.

"I'm ready. Muiesaf, whenever you're ready, you can begin the…"

Orange and green sparkles obscured his vision for the briefest of moments before the heat washed over his body. Shielding his eyes from the glare of the binary sun, he looked around him for recognisable landmarks. A roar overhead made him look up and reach for his Laser…only to see a bulky green and brown ship fly dangerously close to the ground. While he couldn't see the courtyard that led to the Central Command, he could see a thin stream of disgruntled Hurans walking past him. For the most part, they paid no heed to the stranger that had literally appeared out of nowhere and continued on their way. He could even hear snippets of conversation regarding the supposed tyranny of the Rangers and how the King would lead them to victory once more. Shaking his head once, he looked around at the buildings. The small dwellings were supposedly houses that Hurans lived in; whereas the larger buildings were for businesses and the like. Everywhere he looked, there was a clear disparity in the building materials used, from mud and crudely stacked stones for the houses to thick sheets of metal and laminated armour for the businesses. If he had to compare it to something, he would have said it was like walking into an Old West town.

Forcing his legs to move, he walked down the dirt road. He had absolutely no idea where he was going but he was supposedly a traveller. His confusion and general awe of the place around him would actually be doing him a favour for once. Sliding a hand in his pocket, he felt for the currency chips that Zriac had placed there. She had told him that they would be enough to eat and rest for a few days at least. He didn't want to spend a few days gallivanting around town as the Rangers wouldn't have the luxury of time before the doors fell. He would try to get all the information he could by the end of today and, hopefully, shed some light on the whereabouts of the relic that needed to be found.

"You lost, kid?"

The voice shook him out of his thoughts and he shook his head, looking around. He was in front of a building that looked like a bar of some kind. While his grasp of the Huran alphabet wasn't the best, the Power would automatically translate the lettering into English or Galactic Standard. Peering through what little light filtered into the shop, he could see an old Huran male behind what passed for the counter. Bottles filled with liquids of various colours lined the walls and he could just about make out the dim outline of a door on the far wall. Shaking his head once more, he turned in the direction of the Huran and walked into the establishment. As soon as he had crossed the threshold, the slightly rancid smell of rotting lemons wafted into his nose and he tried to keep his coughing to a minimum.

"No, I'm not lost. I'm curious as to why everyone wants the regime changed."

The Huran looked at him suspiciously and, for a moment, he thought his disguise had failed. Pulling out one of the stools, he sat down and waited patiently for the Huran to make his mind up. Up close, he seemed older than most and his face was covered with battle scars. The most prominent of them was a single twisted line on his throat that almost seemed like it was self-inflicted or forcefully done with a garrotte or something. He doubted that as, apart from Ranger weapons and certain metals, nothing could penetrate Huran skin. The only other alternative was rope but he surely doubted the Huran in front of him would be so desperate as to take his own life…or attempt to do so.

"It's got to do with the Rangers and their Elders. Two of them, holed up in the Command Core or whatever they're calling it these days. They hoard the Power to themselves and don't care about the little people on the ground. Now, I'm not saying the King and the Royals were any better when they were around but…"

The voice trailed off and Weihan nodded, slapping down a small chip on the counter. The old Huran looked at it suspiciously before whisking it away and placing a flimsy slip of paper in front of him. It took a few moments for the Power to decipher the badly scrawled characters but he pointed to one of the options that _wasn't_ Y'lchn wine. He doubted he would be getting the memory of the aftertaste out of his mind for a long time. As the bartender turned around to reach for the bottle that held something called 'Super Sparkle', Weihan stifled a gasp at the amount of scars on the Huran's back. A literal roadmap of healed rips, tears, cuts and scar tissue knots stretched from his neck to…well, the hips. Temporarily forgetting the hood that concealed his face, he averted his eyes and looked at the worm-eaten wood of the counter. He glanced up as the Huran spoke again, his voice somewhat muffled by the angle of his body.

"Truth be told, the Royals abused the power the people had entrusted them with and rightly so. I don't know where you're from, sir, but we Hurans only care about one thing: war and fighting. Well, I guess that's actually two things but…anyway, all of our being is fixated on fighting. Not fighting to find a better life or anything, but fighting for the sake of fighting. Before our last King came to power, the world had already been through at least seven civil wars, during which the Rangers had come into being. Twelve of them, all thrown together to fight the beings that came from other worlds; the plan looked good on parchment and held together through thick and thin."

The old Huran turned back to face him, a glass filled three-quarters with a pale liquid with thin slices of jelly or something gel-like suspended in the liquid. Taking the glass from the Huran, Weihan raised it to his lips with some amount of trepidation and took a sip. Hmm…it wasn't that bad; it had a mild citrus flavour and the gel reminded him of the aloe vera drinks that had started appearing in shops. The slow burn of alcohol was still present but it was pleasant and not like drinking jagged glass. Nodding in approval, he made a mental note to ask Muitime or Zriac exactly what was in Super Sparkle and what it was made of. Knowing his luck, it would be made of the bile and distilled blood of Y'lchn. He opened his mouth to speak, choosing his words carefully to avoid suspicion.

"Rumour around my world has it that the number is less and that one of them recently split. I don't know what's worse: the lessened number of Rangers here or the other rumours going regarding the spike of Ranger numbers on Earth."

A heavy sigh came from the bartender.

"The Cyan Ranger, supposedly he was in the running to lead the team before the Black Ranger popped up out of nowhere. Damn hotshot kid ruined everything…but that doesn't matter to you. A traveller from off-world shouldn't stay too long on the surface. You want a bit of advice from an old-timer like me? Do what you need to do and leave the sooner the better."

The Huran shook his head and ran a scarred hand over his blood-red horns and thin wisps of brown-grey hair. For the briefest of moments, Weihan seemed to see another side to the male; a regal side that made him think of a king. However, that faded into nothingness and, soon, all he could see was a tired Huran with a world-weary voice.

"War is coming."

TBC…


	8. Saviour

Chapter 8: Saviour

The suns beat down on him as he walked.

After the rather ominous statement about war coming, the bartender had clammed up quickly. In a way, that was good as it allowed him to think on what had been said. That the Cyan Ranger had left before Zriac had been chosen as the Black Ranger and Leader was apparently common knowledge, yet no one knew the identity of the Huran behind the mask. It also became apparent that not all Hurans supported the drastic measures to overthrow the Elders from their position of power. Unsurprisingly, many of the female Hurans and a handful of males that had grown up enjoying the old tales of the Rangers battling evil wanted everything to continue as it had for longer. It was mostly the younger generation, the ones that didn't believe the stories about monsters attacking, that felt a need to rebel and cause havoc. However, try as hard as he might, the pieces just didn't fit together and he was left with glaring holes in his situational knowledge. Why was the rule of the Royals so respected and, at the same time, feared? Why did the majority of Hurans want the Royals to come back, even though they had the stories and tales of how rough life had been? Was it really in a Huran's blood to keep attacking and fighting until nothing was left?

There were other questions as well; the ones whose answers were so tantalisingly in reach…but also so damn far. Why was the rule of the Royals considered better than the Elders? What would happen to Muitime and Muiesaf if they were deposed? Would their Rangers still follow them or would they be cast aside in favour of other protectors? So caught up in his thinking was he, that he didn't notice the small group of Hurans trailing him until he was surrounded. They had the look of thugs about them: pierced skin, crazy haircuts and extreme facial tattoos that resembled open wounds. An image of Frenter popped into the forefront of his mind and he fought to not groan out loud, unconsciously rearranging his perception of the Huran criminal. Pushing down the option that screamed to slaughter them all, he chose to go for diplomacy first. Also, he was in the guise of a traveller and didn't look like he had many weapons on his person.

"Can I help you?"

One of the Hurans stepped forward, bringing out a short metallic beam from behind his back. Running his finger down the side, the box began to vibrate slightly as three short laser blades slid out of the top. Like all Hurans, his voice was gravely, but held a tangible undercurrent of malice. Amusingly, it had a thick stereotypical 'gangster' accent as well.

"Da boss wants you to know he's not takin' no for an answer anymore. He sent us to get ya."

He frowned and shook his head once, lowering his right hand to his belt. If things got ugly fast, he could possibly surprise them with an attack or a fire blast to the face. On the other hand, that tactic hadn't really worked wonders for many battles with Jabarkas and he didn't want to burn or hurt Zriac in any way.

"I am afraid you have me mistaken for someone else, friend. I am nothing more than a simple traveller from an off-planet world. I do not wish to fight but if you continue to push me…"

He let the sentence trail off as he succeeded in drawing out his Raptor Laser. He had to give Andros props for recommending the cloak and hood combination as the material really concealed any motion that was made to draw out weapons. He could see the confusion and indecision starting to bloom over the Huran's face, as well as the nervous looks the others were giving each other. Weihan could also see that many of them held the same metal rods; which could only mean that those were the strange Laser Shredders that Frenter was so known for using. The leader stepped forward and he fought to stay perfectly still. Leaning in, the leader spoke softly; dropping the strange accent altogether.

"If you are a traveller, then I apologise but our quarry has made the same excuse many times before. That you're obviously on two legs should be enough for the Boss, but I'm not keen on making another mistake."

"I understand."

As the last syllable dropped from his lips, Weihan sprang into action – catching the group of Hurans off guard. Surging forward, he smashed his forehead into the jaw of the leader, sending his tumbling back into the dust. Gulping hard as the blades of the weapon came dangerously close to his throat; he stomped on the wrist and, when the tight grip on the weapon had been released, kicked it straight into the groin of one of the gawking pseudo-gangsters. Stepping off the downed leader, he raised his left hand up to ward off an outstretched hand from another Huran, only for the clawed appendage to snag on his glove and yank it off his hand. Without missing a beat, he channeled his fire powers into his left hand and sent a stream of fire into the Huran's face. A pair of arms looped under his arms and pulled him back as the last of the group turned on his Laser Shredder. With a roar of rage, the Huran powered the weapon forward and into his stomach.

"Why won't you die?"

Weihan grunted in pain as the blades cut into his skin, the weapon having been barely stopped by the armour that had been weaved into the fabric of the clothing. Unfortunately, the brutish Huran holding his arms was pushing him into the blades and there was no guarantee that the armour weave would hold out long enough. Luckily for him, he had mastered the art of aiming a blaster even though he couldn't see it – though his aim was off for the first two shots. The first bolt went totally wide, impacting against the side of the pavement with a small mushroom cloud of dirt and dust. The second bolt lightly grazed the inside of his left leg before boring a hole through the leg of the Huran holding his arms. The wounded alien released his body and stumbled back as light green blood leaked from the wound. Without missing a beat, the Orange Ranger leapt over the Huran's head, raining fiery bolts down on the other Hurans. By now, the leader had managed to scramble off the ground and had snatched another Laser Shredder from one of the others. Gripping the weapons in both hands, he ran over to where Weihan had landed and swung the weapons at him, aiming for his head. Flipping back, the Orange Ranger was able to narrowly avoid the blades but wasn't able to avoid a strong kick that sent him into the air once more.

"Pathetic wretch…and once again, I apologise if you are an actual traveller. However, our boss Frenter gave us specific orders and we intend to fulfil them."

Looking up from the ground, Weihan nodded weakly but tightened his grip on his blaster. His body throbbed with pain and he was pretty sure the impact with one of the walls wasn't helping the cuts on his stomach heal either. However, he knew he had to conserve his strength for one final attack…something that he hoped wouldn't happen as he didn't want to show the majority of his cards in public. Yet, even as he waited for the opportunity, his mind was whirling with questions. If Frenter preferred to work alone, why did he hire a group of wannabe gangsters? What was the intended target of this attack? Why was it such a surprise that he was a biped traveller? One thing was clear though – he wasn't going to wait around to find out what the end result would be. He tensed his body and readied himself to escape. If he slipped past those –

"Away, I say! Away!"

The slightly over-the-top growl startled him out of his thoughts and he momentarily lost track of his plan. Yet, the small hitch in everything wasn't nearly as mind-bendingly impossible as what came next. Something that could have been described only as an upturned opaque test tube with rockets for its base came screaming round one of the corners with what looked like submachine guns gripped tightly in its claws. Expertly assessing the situation, the strange object opened fire, peppering the Huran thugs with a multitude of new holes. Slowly standing up, Weihan reached out with his magic and lifted his discarded glove off the ground, never taking his eyes off the strange test tube robot that was hovering in front of him.

"Please, you can remove that hood of yours."

There was something about the voice that threw him off a small amount and, as he holstered his blaster and began to remove his hood, he struggled to pinpoint it. It almost seemed as if the voice was being run through a synthesiser of some kind; something that could be easily explained if the object was a robot. Yet, as he freed his head from the hood and stared at the machine, one question kept running through his mind as he stared at the arms of the robot.

Why was it wearing a Morpher?

TBC…


	9. Cerberus

Chapter 9: Cerberus

"I suppose you have many questions."

Weihan sat down hard on the chair, barely able to believe what he was seeing. There was literally half a Huran wedged into the glass tube that was filled with a strange liquid that could turn from opaque to transparent on the whim of the occupant. Although the head of the occupant looked relatively clean and unmarred, the same couldn't be said for the rest of the body. Deep wounds and tears decorated the torso, culminating in an ugly tear across the waist. Of course, the legs were missing and what was left of the arms amounted to thin tubes of badly degraded bone that led into robotic 'sheaths' that controlled the arms. As there was nothing below the waist, the Huran's…tube, if he could call it that, was propelled by seemingly heat-free rockets. Actually, he wasn't so sure about that or what they were, but there was no denying that the Huran in the tube was hovering in place. Also, the Morpher was a bit of an elephant in the room but he knew his brain and, Zordon willing, his brain would listen to his instructions for once.

"A Morpher…I mean, who exactly are you?"

Sometimes, he really hated his brain. To the credit of the Huran, he didn't even blink or show that he had noticed the slip-up; instead, placing two strange vessels of steaming liquid onto the table. After indicating which one he should drink from, Weihan slipped his fingers around the strangely shaped cup and lifted it to his lips. Interestingly enough, it tasted exactly like Super Sparkle, except warmed up. Running his tongue around his mouth, he opened his mouth to ask his question once more when the Huran in front of him sighed and spoke.

"You noticed that, huh? I guess that means you've seen the sisters and are currently up to speed with the situation on the planet. You're the Orange Ranger from Earth, right? Don't say anything, kid, I already knew who you were the moment you started fighting. They slipped through your guard and got you, though you should have been able to take them easily if you morphed."

Weihan nodded slowly, running through the events of the fight once more. The flip backwards had cost him his forward guard and had left him wide open for the kick. In hindsight, he should have foregone that needlessly flashy move in favour of ducking and performing a shoulder charge into the thug's stomach. From then on, he could have been in total control of the fight and could have ended it on his own terms…instead of watching them be gunned down like nameless victims in some street war. Shaking himself at the slightly morbid thought, he furrowed his brow at the vocal tones that seemed to be coming from the Huran. At first, it had been almost comically regal, like a bad impression of Ninjor then into a strange and clinical tone and finally into a similar gnarled tone of voice as the sisters. Everything seemed to bring up more questions than answers, so much so that he wasn't exactly sure if the Huran in front of him was an invention by Frenter, Jabarkas or Xonix. If his Crystal was somehow blocked from him, he could still make a break for it using his Ninjetti powers or, if it came down to it, by calling his Zord down onto the being's head.

"Please, there is no need to resort to that. I am sure Muiesaf did not inform you that all of our Rangers have had their natural telepathic abilities strengthened. So, I am also sure she knows as well…but in this current climate, there is no time for that or attempting to heal the hurts of someone resolved to do it himself."

Right…he didn't know whether to freak out that Zriac knew about his thought of her or groan with the knowledge that all of the Rangers presumably knew about what he had done. Whatever the most appropriate solution was, it was eluding him greatly. He had to make a better effort to either conceal his thoughts or to recall his mental shielding training. On the other hand, he was supposed to be scouting for information about who was behind the current unrest and not shooting the breeze with some Huran in a tube. In addition, he was supposed to be looking for leads as to where the strange and powerful artefact had gone to and even doing preliminary Intel for the TWPRC. Also, if he really wanted to be a dick about it, conversing with someone who knew what he was going to say next kinda creeped him out. Of course, that was meant to not offend but…wait; there was one glaring thing that he had overlooked. Plus, he had to say it before the thought was taken from his mind.

"Wait, you're a Ranger?"

The Huran shrugged and the Orange Ranger winced as several of the tears opened wider, showing pale green muscle. The Morpher had tipped him off that the Huran wasn't an ordinary sort but nothing had really clicked until the mention of the sisters. The bartender and many of the locals he had spoken to had called them the Elders, usually referencing them by that title or lumping them together as a collective sort of Elder Blue. None of them had known their names or that one of them was bound to the Processing Core, which was possibly a good thing.

"It is of no consequence now. Yes, I was the Grey Ranger once upon a time and during the fight against Xon'ixia, I was gravely wounded. It was enough for everyone to pass me off as legally dead but I managed to hang onto life…just. Due to the beams and weaponry I had been exposed to, my body actively rejected any sort of healing energy, spells or draughts that did not come directly from my Morpher. In hindsight, maybe it wasn't the best idea to implement the body grafters but that saved me from dying on more than one occasion. My name is Carinimin but I am more commonly known as Elder Grey."

Now it all made sense as to why he had been cornered by the thugs and why they had said what they did. Mentally closing the box containing the remainder of the questions about the fight in his mind, he pushed it to the far reaches as he took another sip. His information matched up to what little he knew about the final battle of the original Huran Rangers and he was sure the truth of Xon'ixia's name was laughing at him. The twins would have been the first and foremost priority after the battle, as they had thought the others to be dead. He also wondered if the technology used for the former Grey Ranger was the same as Muiesaf…although he didn't really want to see how the former Green Ranger looked like.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to see what she looks like now either. I was told my tube was based on an earlier model prototype and I still retain use of what limbs I still have. I was there when she was removed from her and know who the Black Ranger is…and your relationship with her father. On one hand, I'm pleased that he is still alive, while on the other…"

The roboticised Elder Grey hovered past the table and into an adjoining room. Weihan could hear things being moved around, doors opened and the clattering of metal. Ensuring his blaster was still in its holster, he waited for the Elder to come out. If he had to defend himself, he would…though, he didn't know if anything in his current Power Set could even damage or crack the tube. In fact, given that the Huran was a former Ranger, he doubted there was anything that could be done if the Huran decided to get serious. Flying test tube or not, he was sure the old Ranger still had some tricks left up his sleeve and the manoeuvrability of the platform would give him an added advantage. However, something told him that he had nothing to fear from the elder Ranger and that he held the starting block to his deed to the Rangers.

A few minutes later, Carinimin reappeared in the doorway, a sheet of parchment clutched in one robotic hand. Floating past, his closed eyelids opened to reveal one brilliant yellow and grey eye and a blackened hole where the other was. Swallowing hard, he waited for the Elder to speak once more, guessing that the information he sought was on the sheet of parchment. The Grey Elder cracked a small smile before settling down in front of him, the parchment's words an almost incomprehensible jumble to symbols. Tapping the left side of his glasses once, the translucent translation overlay snapped into place and slowly began deciphering the words. A dialogue box popped up, asking if he wanted to take a picture of it for future reference; a question which he responded in the affirmative. A progress bar filled his vision for a split second before being relegated to the upper right had corner. Slow text began appearing as the symbols were translated, gaps in the sentences due to sloppy handwriting or damage to the parchment.

**Here be the location of the Crystal of the…ancient Masters…the power of the Crusader will…united he will stand, divided, he will fall…The seventh jewel of the Corona Aurora and the one not chosen.**

"Do you know what it is, boy? When the text finishes translating, you will have your answer to the riddle of the Crusaders."

He hovered closer, opening his eye wider than before and revealing his other eye had sunk deep into the socket. Sombre seriousness and a gravity, that seemed to come from nowhere, appeared in his eyes. Placing the parchment down, he spoke in a voice that conveyed both his age and his experience.

"And Cerberus will have a new Master."

TBC…


	10. Taking Flight

Chapter 10: Taking Flight

"Well, so much for answers…"

Weihan sighed and lay back on the slightly lumpy, but horizontal, bed that was in the room. He had managed to gain accommodation for the night after leaving Carinimin's dwelling and was grateful for the rest. After the ominous comment from the Grey Elder, they had talked about various things ranging from life on Earth to good-natured joking about the rather improper relationship he wanted to have with Zriac to, finally, the battle with Xon'ixia. Although he should have expected it, it was still a bit of a shock to realise the creature that had slaughtered most of the original Huran Rangers and Xonix were one and the same. The conversation had dropped off a bit after that as the information had slowly sunk in and, as always, he found himself wishing for more answers than the rather cryptic set of sentences that were on the parchment.

**Here be the location of the Crystal of the Cerberus. Forged from the fires of ancient Masters, one will know the true meaning of being a Crusader. The power of the Crusader will not come easily to this individual and will change the person in ways they will never truly understand. United he will stand, divided, he will fall; yet, the true meaning and Power will back him up completely. For the Crystal is the seventh jewel of the Corona Aurora and the one not chosen. Peace be to the warrior reading these words as they will be able to handle the flame and beast…when the time is right.**

Honestly, he wasn't sure whether to be thankful of a great power that was – if he was reading things correctly – going to be integrated into his Power Set or to scream in total and utter frustration as he found himself at the centre of yet another Prophecy. He was leaning more and more to the latter option as it, basically, was the only thing that seemed feasible for him. Well, that and the only 'Crusader' that he had had access to were the Cutie Mark Crusaders in Equestria. If this meant he would be struggling to find his place in the world all over again, he wasn't so sure he wanted to pick up the powerful thing for the sisters. He knew that the Corona Aurora was the Crown of the Gods and that one wish from it would be enough to change the world; however, getting said wish wasn't an easy prospect. The Crown was in one location but its jewels were all over Earth…for some strange reason, though it was possibly another one of Zordon's zany schemes to protect the Earth with yet another set of Rangers.

He wasn't sure why he wasn't notified but apparently someone had taken the jewel-less Crown from its resting place and released the two brothers from their planetary imprisonment. When questioned, the Phantom Ranger had expressed concern about the withheld information and had informed him that no one had told him of its location and retrieval as well. He hadn't asked the Morphin Council about it but he had done some digging of his own, asking people who were connected to the Council on the far reaches of the Galaxy. They had told him that a private business on earth had taken it and was working in conjunction with the Sentinel Knight to prepare for when the brothers would come to Earth. Of course, that day was still far into the future but he had been a bit leery with allowing some random yahoo access to the Crown. On the other side of the coin was the fact that the Crown only had five jewels, not six and certainly not seven. Unless there was a sixth jewel that would pop up at a later date, whatever the Crystal of the Cerberus was, it was more than likely the sixth. Everything was just giving him a massive headache.

He was on his second day on Huran and needed a breakthrough of information. The conversation with Elder Grey had left him with a dull pain in his head, something that had been there since he had learnt that Zriac practically knew what he wanted to do with her. Whether or not she could contort into those positions on her own wasn't something he needed – or wanted – to be thinking of as he had absolutely no idea how far the telepathic link stretched. Closing his eyes, he mentally felt along the torn, ripped and frayed strand that had once been connected to AJ. If he hadn't forcibly ripped it apart, would it be strong enough to stretch back to Earth so he could talk to her? It was a moot point now as he had forcibly ejected her from the world of Rangering. Celestia willing, she would never again be drawn into the complex work of Powers, Zords and interpersonal Ranger relationships…until the time was right – whenever that would be.

Something tapped against the window.

He looked at the pane of armoured glass and frowned slightly. Carinimin had chosen one of the inns near the space-port and, presumably due to the events centuries ago, it was one of the most well defended buildings he had seen. It was also quite a distance away from the Processing Core, which meant there was less chance of being spotted by the crowd outside the doors. However, there was nothing that could stop a random Huran from throwing small stones at his window. Swinging his feet over the edge of the bed, he walked towards the window and looked down into the dim light of the street outside. By the standards of most Hurans, it was an extremely late hour so there were no civilians on the street. He was about to dismiss it as a figment of his imagination when he blinked in surprise as another small stone bounced off the glass. Hurriedly tracing its origin point, he creased his brow at the rather shady alley that the stone had supposedly come from. Notwithstanding, it would have taken a lot of arm strength to throw a rock so far and not have it instantly shatter the pane – armoured or not.

Slipping on his cloak and pulling the hood over his head, he placed the key to his room in the, in his opinion rather archaic, lock and closed the door – a signal that he wouldn't be returning. Scowling at having spent three hundred 'chits' on the room, he reconsidered the decision and pulled the key out. If he didn't return, he would teleport the key back to the 'front desk' in the morning. Slipping down the stairs, he nodded to the robotic assistant and slipped out into the night. The holster that had held the Raptor laser hung bare as he had sent it back into the Crystal to recharge, though it was extremely easy to summon it. Looking around at his surroundings, he stretched out with his mental capacities, the link lightly touching the minds of anyone around him. If the homeless vagrants showed any surprise at the sensation, they hid it well. Amazingly, he could hear the faint whispers of the Ultra and Crystal Rangers, along with the breathless whispers of Bree's mental 'voice'. Huh, if he didn't know any better, he would have sworn she was on the phone with her sister…he shook his head and continued on. The mouth of the alley lay ahead, nestled between two buildings that looked, to his eyes, like cafes or bars. The darkness invited him inside and seemed to grow darker as he walked down it.

"Leave this place, Ranger."

The voice came from deep in the shadows, thin and whispery but with a strange emphasis on the word 'Ranger'. It was accompanied by a light clicking or scraping sound, something akin to a noise he had heard in a butcher shop a few years ago. He shook his head once, not knowing if the voice could see him and began drawing on all the Power he could muster. There was a strange sensation in the air; like things were going to go downhill fast and he needed to be prepared for anything. A flare of light pierced the darkness, giving him a glimpse of the Huran in front of him. The mask was oddly familiar, being coloured a dark aquamarine with black and crimson stripes that mimicked the look of fresh wounds. He wondered if it was another of Frenter's hired thugs when the realisation struck him. Almost unconsciously, his mouth opened and a name slipped out.

"Lidars."

Now that he had seen the figure, he could easily make out its silhouette in the inky shadows. The form stiffened slightly, almost as if it was surprised but shook its head once. There was a rustle of movement and, on a strange impulse, Weihan dropped to the ground in an instant. Twin beams of red energy lanced out into the air above his head, impacting against the wall on the other side of the street with two puffs of smoke. A dull buzzing alarm echoed far away as lights in the buildings around them flickered to life. Extending his right hand to the figure, he summoned a thick stream of fire which engulfed the elusive criminal. Strangely, the so-called crime lord didn't emit any screams or cries of pain. Breaking off the attack, he rolled onto his shoulders and leapt onto his feet as two bright spotlights illuminated the alley. His breath caught in his throat as the crime lord was finally illuminated.

It wasn't Lidars; that he was sure of. The colours of the mask were too deep, the roundness of the edges too angled and the wisps of hair too thick and deliberately placed. No, the being in front of him looked more like a robotic caricature of the mysterious criminal – complete with patches of exposed robotics and machinery. One of its 'hands' was constructed like a dual barrelled machine gun and the other was more of a blade than a hand, its legs were thick cylinders of metal and its mask was slowly cracking open, as if it didn't matter anymore – now that the illusion of its identity had been dispelled. In a twisted parody of Bree's Sentinel Morpher, the mask opened along a jagged fault line – first horizontally and then vertically. The four segments seemed to smile at him in the piercing light and Weihan could just make out the cold and unemotional eyes that seemed to never blink. From the grille where its mouth would have been came the same whispery voice.

"You have seen me in my true form. I am Drasil, Lidars' fiercest supporter."

Another rustling of cloth was all the warning the Orange Ranger had before two large metal flaps extended from the back of the humanoid. The bottom edges glowed red with energy as its feet began to leave the ground. Around him, he could hear the shocked gasps of various Hurans as they roused themselves from their slumber or, in the case of many, looked out the windows. As the monster – and he was sure it was a monster – took to the air, Weihan wrapped himself up in a cocoon of Power and energy as the next chilling words reached his ears.

"You must die."

TBC…


	11. Power Release

Chapter 11: Power Release

It was a one-sided battle from the start.

Although he had the power of the Orange Ultra Crystal on his side, Drasil had the advantage of the jets on his wings that gave him a surprising level of manoeuvrability in the air. He was sure the Rangers had been notified of the battle but they hadn't showed up yet. What that meant, he had no idea of and, frankly, he didn't care about. He had bigger things to worry about in the present moment than if Zriac would come swooping down from the skies. Spinning away from a crumbling wall as his helmet clicked shut, the newly morphed Orange Ranger looked up at the humanoid monster, oblivious to the shocked stares around him. Thanks to the translator, he could even hear their surprised shouts and, amusingly enough, the stammering from the owner of the inn about wanting to give him back his deposit. After the announcement of his supposedly imminent death, Drasil had opened up with everything his blasters were capable of, meaning he had to dodge like crazy to avoid being flash-fried. He would be slightly less protected without the Battle Armour but he would have to make do until he was free enough to summon it.

Summoning the Raptor Sabre, he held it in the path of several bolts and watched the energy bounce harmlessly off the blade. After seeing what it had done to the walls of the buildings, he wasn't too keen on checking how strong it would be against his armour. Summoning up a ball of orange flame, he concentrated its intensity to a brilliant white-hot sphere before lobbing it underarm at the robotic creature. With a fluid motion he thought wouldn't even be possible, the wing-like protrusions clanged together in front of the being's body – absorbing the brunt of the explosion and soaking up the immense heat. As the smoke and steam cleared, Weihan's eyes widened as he saw no visible scorch marks on the metal; something that was practically impossible without extremely strong shielding. Unfortunately, the moment of awe and disbelief left him wide open for an attack. Several bolts of burning energy smashed into his chest, knocking him off his feet and sending various flashing warnings across the inside of his visor.

Growling deep in his throat, he sprang onto his feet once more; ignoring the pain that burned his lungs with each breath. Summoning the Raptor Cannon, he programmed the 'seeker' mode into the shots and unleashed a wide spread of bolts into the air. Orange spheres streaked across the sky, following the rather unpredictable movements of Drasil's aerial acrobatics. Yet, no matter how many of the spheres exploded against the metal of the wings or engulf the exposed limbs in scalding energy, he could tell that his blasts were ineffective. The self-repair on his bodysuit was clearing up the damage wrought by the energy bolts; the only issue was the damage was progressing faster than the system could keep up with. He needed to switch to his stronger powers but the creature wouldn't really give him the time needed…and if he kept up with his basic suit, he would be a toasted marshmallow. Snapping off another volley of blasts, he dove behind what looked like a street dumpster and locked his Sabre into the Raptor Cannon.

He felt the metal grow hot behind him and rolled away as the dumpster exploded, sending shards of heated metal everywhere in a wide arc. Bringing up the Raptor Launcher, he blasted the creature with a round of superheated plasma and leapt back from the subsequent explosion. He doubted that would have worked but it would give him enough time to pull out the trump card. Dismissing his Raptor Launcher, he flicked his left wrist once; his Battlizer appeared with a gleam that was almost diluted by the explosion behind him. The sensors and radar in his helmet screamed warnings at him and he ran dead straight, not looking back but feeling the heat from the sizzling beams lance dangerously close to his arms and legs. Tapping into the Utahraptor spirit, he urged his legs to power faster ahead of the beams to give him a few moments of precious activation time. Making a running leap for one of the walls, he flicked out the claws on his gloves and boots and began climbing…all the while trying not to think of the logistics behind his feat. Well, that and he was trying to get the theme from the Spider-man cartoon out of his mind. Leaping over the lip of the roof, he righted himself and scanned the surrounding areas – looking for Drasil and where he may have gone to.

"Ranger…you will pay for what you have done!"

Hearing the voice behind him, he turned around to see that the powered blast from the Raptor Launcher had done a bit of damage to Drasil. Small sections of skin on his exposed arms and legs had been burnt away and, in places, was peeling back to expose slightly greenish flesh. Heat blisters had risen around the metal cuffs of his machinegun hand and, presumably, on his back where the wings had come from. Most of them were intact and slightly transparent but some of them had popped, due to movement or excess heat, leaking a dark yellow liquid. Even the helmet or mask hadn't escaped unscathed and Weihan could see the edges along the seams had melted slightly. As the cybernetic monster dropped onto the roof with a slight crunch, several more of the blisters burst open violently; the dark yellow liquid hitting against his bodysuit. Drasil hobbled towards him and raised his blade hand, before speaking once more.

"Lidars knows what you are here for. The Cerberus Crystal; something he would kill to have in his possession. It should not go to the Rangers as it will bestow upon them the power to control the planet. My master has done extensive research and has found that it is indeed the sixth jewel of the Corona Aurora. He, and only he, has the power and ability to destroy it forever so its terrifying abilities can never be harnessed by the likes of you."

It was clear that Lidars was the one pulling the strings of the other three, though Weihan had absolutely no idea why he was doing so. It was also clear to him that Drasil wanted to talk or vent about what his master was doing. If he asked the correct questions, he would have the whole plan spelled out for him…or he would be blasted full of holes. Obviously, the first option was more desirable and he could easily escape the second one by activating the Battlizer. However, to do so would cement the Zord into his power set – something that had never been done before. As far as he knew, it wouldn't have an effect on him – just make him that little bit more powerful and strengthen the Rangers defending Earth. Yet, if he really wanted to be honest with himself, it was starting the piss him off a small amount that he was receiving all these great upgrades, abilities and weapons while the others were still 'stuck' with their default equipment and whatever else he managed to unlock for them.

"What are its abilities?"

He grimaced under his helmet as Drasil began to idly pick at one of the blisters on his arm with the finger-blade that was his index finger. The best course of action was to keep the monster talking, to keep it distracted so he could finish it off with a powered blast or slash from the Battlizer. Hell, even a Morphin Smash or an energised punch would be enough to knock Drasil out of the game for a while. Shaking the thoughts from his mind, he waited for the monster to talk.

"Ha, they are not for the likes of you to know. The Cerberus Crystal was created by the Ancients as a means to control their greatest servants. Control through immense power but, as with everything in this wretched Universe, something went wrong. The Crystal fell into the hands of a powerful sorcerer and was changed forever from an empowerment device to something both feared and desired. One of Zordon's warriors was able to glimpse the Crystal for a brief moment and wrote the Prophecy of Cerberus. How that came to a dismal planet like this is anyone's guess. Rumour has it that it was brought here and entrusted with the first group of Rangers; the group before the Elders. They sing tales of a mighty warrior that was able to use it on the battlefield to assist in the sealing of a fearsome creature, though scholars are dubious of these claims. In any case, it does not matter for you as it is time to end your miserable existence!"

Even though he was damaged, Drasil moved lightning fast. The metallic blade fingers were clenched around the fabric of his left shoulder before he could blink and he could see the ground rapidly recede from sight. As they ascended into the sky, the Orange Ranger took the time to look around at his surroundings. Contrary to his first impressions, the central city didn't extend that far out. Purplish mountains glowered ominously on one side and he could see the twinkling lights of another city over the ridge. Something that appeared to be a tunnel or access passage was carved into the side and, if he squinted through the blurring clouds, he could almost see Hurans walking in and out. The Processing Core was also visible to him in all its glory; as were the small group of Hurans still gathered in the square. Slowly, he inched his right arm towards his Battlizer…if he could just reach the activation button before he was released…

"You won't be doing anything, human."

Weihan screamed in pain as the blades ruptured his armour, digging deep into his shoulder. He thought he could feel the metal scraping along his bones but he thought, he hoped, it was just his imagination. However, what he knew wasn't his imagination was the blood running down his arm and the excruciating pain he felt when he tried to move it. Unhelpfully, the damage displayed on his HUD made him want to throw up, something that wouldn't have been terribly practical inside a helmet. Screwing his eyes shut, he attempted to calm himself and think of a way out. From the height he was at, he predicted it would take around forty seconds or so to fall to the ground. Activating the Battlizer would take around half the time unless the 'new' transformation would hold him in the air or something. He really wished he had asked the Spiderian Elder for more clarification...on the other hand, the Elder had been on his last legs.

"Ranger, this is where we part ways – forever."

Drasil pulled the Ranger up and examined him. The human was badly injured in his shoulder and a thin spatter of red blood was raining down on the city below. The strange device on the wrist was of no concern and was probably a communication device of some kind. There wasn't even a discernable aura of power coming from it which meant it was a powerless object, useless to the plans of his Master. Barely uttering a grunt of exertion, he flung the Ranger up into the air and – for good measure – released a hailstorm of bolts at him. Several struck the Ranger and detonated in a fiery explosion that lit up the sky. Drasil chuckled and turned to leave when something caught his eye. The explosion hadn't dissipated into the air and looked to be…growing. His optical sensor widening slightly, the monster turned to flee but was struck from behind by a powerful beam that was stronger than the blast felt earlier. Taking a moment to ensure he could still fly, he faced the origin of the blast and stopped in shock.

The Orange Ranger was hovering in the air, covered in dragon-themed armour; two 'heads' and their necks created the chest armour and breast-plate, while the dinosaur themed helmet had been replaced by a draconic visage. There was no visible sign of the wound or any residual blood but, unless the powers were different somehow, the Ranger would still be feeling the pain. Gripped tightly in the hands of the Ranger were orange and silver staves, tipped with red spearheads. A dull clunking sound came from the back of the warrior and Drasil swallowed in something resembling fear as two large wings opened up behind the Orange Ranger. They were modelled after dragon wings and each limb had a semi-recognisable sail on them…meaning the new armour was moulded on one of the deadliest creatures the Universe had ever seen: the Tri-Spino Dragon. With a swift movement that belied the pain the Ranger should have been feeling, he watched as the figure swung the staves or spears up over his shoulders and slid them behind his back.

Drasil swallowed once more as the Ranger brought his hands up in front of him and energy began to form around them. Not wanting to stay, the cybernetic warrior flew off in the direction of the secondary base, a stream of dark pus and smoke trailing behind him. Lidars needed to know about the new development and, hopefully, he would make it with his life. Unfortunately for him, the twin crescents of energy smashing into his wings said otherwise but he managed to retain some degree of flight. A blur of motion later and he was staring into the impassive and expressionless visor of the Orange Ranger, nervously eyeing the literal flaming blade in his hands. the three words that came from the Ranger didn't do anything to calm his nerves, either.

"Where were we?"

TBC…


	12. Frustrations

Chapter 12: Frustrations

It wasn't that bad.

Relatively speaking, there hadn't really been that many new bells and whistles during the transformation and, though he could feel the new 'weight' that came with the added Zord link, nothing had been out of place or abnormal. Well, he had been trying not to fall to his death and, as such, hadn't noticed if there were any superficial elements to the suit. Flying wasn't so much of a problem as he just had to angle his body in the direction he wanted to go and any deviations to the direction were handled by the automatic controls of each of the…well, he wasn't really sure what to call the jet-like structures on his feet and back. As long as he didn't try breaking free of the atmosphere, he would be fine for the battle.

"Get back here!"

Unfortunately, it seemed Drasil wasn't going to stick around and had begun flying in the direction of some run-down buildings. It also seemed he couldn't really blast the fleeing creature with the lasers as they needed some time to recharge; which, given the fact that the armour was being powered by both his Ultra Crystal and whatever Power Source the Zord had, didn't really make much sense at all. At least his Raptor Blazer hadn't changed much and the Twin Dragon Staves were still usable…just not at this distance. He wasn't going to throw them and have them plummet to the city below, potentially killing an innocent civilian or worse – be picked up by Frenter or one of his gang. As the information scrolled on the inside of his visor, he began mentally taking more notes as well as discarding the attacks that wouldn't help him in his fight. Pushing more power into his 'thrusters', he began to slowly catch up to the monster.

The first attack could theoretically work, but he would be extremely exposed to blaster fire coming from the surface. The second attack…well, that was right out as a kamikaze charge wasn't on the books for today. As he crept closer to the fleeing creature, he thrust his Blazer at the monster. The creature let out a screech of anger and pain as the barest hint of it tip sank into the exposed flesh on its leg. He was still too damn far away to do more damage but, on the upside, he was gaining ground. He could hear the monster screaming over the roar of the wind.

"You fool! You are being played by the Rangers to help them in their mad quest for Power! The power of the Cerberus Crystal will bring untold sorrows to those who use it! You would be damning the planet to a thousand years of war!"

He shook his head and slashed his Blazer down once more, the energised blade seemingly stretching to close the gap and slice deeply into the Achilles tendon of the monster. He doubted the biology was the same but there was no denying the pained growl that ripped its way out of the cybernetic being. Channelling more power into the jets, the Orange Ranger managed to close the gap within seconds and dismissed the Blazer. Reaching up to grasp the ends of the Staves on his back, he pulled the weapons free and waited for the perfect chance to strike. As the Orange Ranger, he had to fight harder than the others because he was always a target. Sometime during the two year break, his skills had degraded slightly, even with the regular training, and he had been forced to catch up after the first few battles.

The addition and arrival of the Crystal Rangers had been a help to his training as they had possessed new skills and strategies, meaning he had to be constantly on his toes. However, he hadn't really realised just how out of shape he was until the battle where Night Shade had revealed himself to be Xonix. The once natural moves had felt somewhat clunky and forced and, even though there had been no outward signs of strain, his limbs hadn't been moving as quickly as they had. He had trained late into the nights around his home and had even risked going back to the park to train with his fire summoning abilities and attacks – the area being safe now that the drunk had cleaned up his act some. He had been itching to try out some new attacks in the next battle but the insanity of fighting the Tengas, the Tenga Queen and the accidental death of the woman had kind of thrown him off his A-game. He flew parallel with Drasil as he prepared to strike, his mind alive with possibilities.

"It was during the Battle for Eltare that the Crystal was sighted; in the company of one of Zordon's warriors. It should have been at the Royal Palace on this planet but the Crystal on Eltare held a slightly dulled sheen, almost as if it had been used countless times. My Master is trying to work out how there could have been two of them at the same time but he will never find out if you insist in getting the Crystal for those accursed Rangers!"

Huh, well that was a tidbit of information he wasn't really expecting. The way Drasil was talking about it made him think that the Crystal was still in the Royal Palace. Of course, there was no doubt in his mind that it had been moved to a more secure location but he finally had a starting point. He would go there in the morning to look for clues and answers, though he still had to deal with the monster in front of him first. Without missing a beat, he twirled the staves in his hands once before stabbing them down through the wings on Drasil's back. The metal yielded some resistance at first but parted easily enough, the tips of the weapons piercing into the thick wall of back fat. Drasil howled once more and attempted to blast at him with his gun hand but, either thanks to the close distance or the fact his wings were still in the way of his aim, none of the blasts connected. Drawing on more power from the Orange Ultra Crystal, the Ranger began to slowly move the Staves in opposing directions; an almost maniacal smile forming on his face as he heard the metal bend and begin to break.

With one final savage howl of victory, Weihan wrenched the Staves apart as the shattered remnants of Drasil's wings fell from his back. The cybernetic monster screamed and howled as the means of his flight fell from his vision; yet, he was still able to stay in the air thanks to the blades in his back. Lidars' top warrior was dying but Weihan had to admire his determination to stay alive. As the edges of the mask attempted to slide shut, the Orange Ranger slowly began to shake the monster from the weapons when a surprise smash from the blade hand took him completely off guard. The blades sank into the left side of his chest armour, producing a shower of sparks and flames. Somewhat blinded by the lightshow, he instinctively let go of the Staves…sending Drasil plummeting to the ground below.

"Ah…shit."

He shook his head once more and angled his body down into a steep dive. If he really wanted to be honest with himself, he wasn't doing this for Drasil. The monster had provided him with a few leads but he needed to take back his weapons – consequences be damned. The Battlizer felt heavy against his back as gravity took hold; however, he continued down and stretched out his arms. By his calculations, he only had around seventeen seconds before Drasil became a pancake and he really didn't want to go out that way as well. His fingertips touched the ends of the weapons before they slipped away, the timer in his helmet steadily counting down the seconds as they raced towards oblivion. Powering up the thrusters yet again, he stretched out his arms once more and grabbed onto the ends with the tips of his fingers.

This was becoming insane.

An idea flashed through his mind for an instant before he acted upon it. Praying to whatever was up there that the plan wouldn't spiral horribly out of control; he released the weapons and shot up into the sky. Pushing most of the power into his visor to enhance the images, he looked down at the falling figure of Drasil and waited for the impact. When it happened, it was accompanied by a deep thump that he felt inside his suit and billowing clouds of dust, dirt and whatever the paving of the roads was made out of. Descending from his vantage point as he waited for the cloud to clear, he snapped both wrists experimentally. Caked in dust, grime and assorted fluids, the Twin Dragon Staves appeared in front of him. Grimacing lightly, he took hold of them and docked them into their sheaths.

"Ranger…"

The voice came from the behind him a split second before a gold energy bolt smashed into his right wing. Falling to the ground in a painful heap, the Orange Ranger rolled over and his eyes widened at what he saw. Hovering above him, no more than three or so metres away, was a figure dressed in dark blue and gold armour. A black and green belt encircled its waist and there was a strange buckle of some sort of light blue crystal where the navel would be on a human. A smoking quadruple barrelled blaster was gripped in silver striped gloves that had small spikes above the knuckles and a simple wooden staff was strapped to its back. However, the feature that Weihan's eyes were drawn to was the mask, or helmet, that wrapped around the figure's head. It was coloured light cyan and had grey and red streaks adorned on it. Where the mouth-plate would have been was an infinity symbol that was constantly changing colours.

"You have defeated my servant but he is not destroyed yet. I know what you seek on this planet and redemption will not come so lightly. Discard the frailties and lies of the Rangers and join me on my path to victory. I assure you this; I am the Light and the Truth. Huran will prosper under my care and will burn under the grasp of the Black Ranger. You needn't be afraid when you are with me."

The voice carried the growling tone of all Hurans but it was as smooth as silk. He was extremely tempted to take the figure up on his offer…but he remembered his task and the path fate had carved for him. Making a motion to extend his hand in resigned acceptance, he channeled his strongest burst of energy and blasted the figure with the same white-hot flames as had engulfed Drasil. Pushing himself off the ground, he disengaged his blast and summoned the Raptor Blazer to his right hand. The other Rangers were close by and they were coming to his aid…but they were not ready to take on a creature this evil. The flaming curtain vanished and the figure was unharmed and undamaged, which was actually something he was expecting. Shaking its head, the figure raised the brutally battered form of Drasil and spoke once more.

"More's the pity, I suppose. However, we will meet again on the field of battle and you will not be so lucky then."

A shimmering veil of energy engulfed the pair as the Rangers rallied around him, Zriac pressing herself close to him. The masked warrior seemed to pause slightly before growling in anger as the teleportation field took effect, snarling out one final phrase to the assembled Rangers.

"Five days…don't disappoint me."

TBC…


	13. Ancients

Chapter 13: Ancients

"What the fuck is the Cerberus Crystal?"

Muitime stared at him in shock as the doors closed. That name had not rung through her mind for a very long time and she had presumed it lost after the sacking of the Palace. She looked at the Orange Ranger curiously, wondering what he had seen and heard in his day of recon. As it stood, they would have to pay off Zat'kl for the repairs to his inn and the walls that had been damaged during the battle. The innkeeper had been on the comm. for around fifteen standard minutes trying to weasel his way out of the payment. Unluckily for him, Ulani wasn't having any of it and was trying to work with him for the payment plan. She wondered how well-off he was and, if they hadn't have offered, how he would pay for the repairs. Sure, there was the planet-regulated Monster Attack Compensation program but that hadn't been looked at since the later days of her team. In all honesty, none of them had been prepared for the monster/battle alarm to go off…which is why they had been caught off guard. It was a mistake that she had already vowed to not happen again and she had thought that that was the reason why Weihan had asked to see her.

"Why do you need to know that?"

She watched him shake his head and run one of his hands through his hair. They had been struck dumb at the sheer level of power that had radiated off his 'Battlizer Armour' and some of them had expressed a desire for him to stay on the planet after his 'duties' to protect them. Surprisingly, her sister had shot down that idea via a telepathic command, presumably due to one of her visions. After that, nothing more had been discussed between the Rangers, though she had witnessed a whispered argument between the Black and Green Rangers regarding Zriac's proximity towards the Orange Ranger. Well, it was something that had to be addressed sooner or later and, if she really wanted to be honest with herself, Xristi was the only one that could reign in Zriac at the best of times. Not even her sister could cool off the Black Ranger when she really got going. She made a mental note to stock the food replicators with wine cubes and stomach bags for the Super Sparkle. She thought it would be best for everyone involved if the human wasn't told what went into the drink he had enjoyed so much.

"I have a feeling it is the object you asked me to recover. The last known location of the Cerberus Crystal is in the Royal Palace so that is where I'll go in the morning. If you have any intelligence on the layout of the Palace and access codes to doors and security bypass systems; that would be a great help."

She shook her head slowly, turning the words over in her mind. There was information she could give him but he was an outsider. By ancient law, Hurans were not supposed to reveal their innermost secrets to off-worlders…a law that had, ironically, been broken with Jabarkas' defection. She sighed heavily and looked out the window to the faint glows of the fires that were still raging near the space port. Wringing her hands, she looked at the bracelet on her left wrist. There was still a very faint glow of blue light around it and she could still feel the Power pulsing through her body but it was weak and unstable. After they had stabilised his systems, Carinimin had given the news to her that she would never again morph into her full Ranger armour. She had been devastated with the news but had composed herself well. After all, it wouldn't do to be angry at a friend who was literally a body in a jar…and one that looked much worse than her sister. Bringing herself out of the mists of the past, she looked at the Orange Ranger and wondered if she had chosen him as an Enforcer for the right reasons. He was clearly looking for something to take his mind off his murder of the innocent civilian but, in the grand scheme of things, one dead woman wasn't much.

The Cerberus Crystal…she had known that was the powerful object since before the Orange Ranger had responded to her distress call. She had always thought Zriac or even Raluna capable Rangers for the Power Crystal but if what her sister had seen was correct…well, the Powers couldn't be tethered to their planet any more. Closing her eyes, she sighed once again and made her decision. Opening her mouth, her voice was soft but determined.

"The Palace was sacked multiple times by thieves but they were unable to get into the lowest chambers. The mechanisms are separately controlled and there is no way for my sister to open them from the outside. Indeed, some of the first rooms to be sacked were the security controls – meaning there is a high chance that no one has been into the chambers since the fall of the King. My memory is a bit fuzzy on the layout but I can remember the location of the first secret passage with ease. It is situated in the wall behind the throne on the ground level. The elevator should have enough power to take you into the lower levels. How to progress from there…I do not know,"

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair once more. Weihan was grateful to the Rangers for coming, even though Lidars had escaped with his badly injured minion. The explanation behind their tardiness hadn't really made a lot of sense – given the fact that Rangers should have been on guard at all times – but he was willing to overlook the irregularities in their system. It was also extremely late and he needed more than a few hours of rest. Unfortunately, he just had to have stumbled on to a lead as to where the Cerberus Crystal was and was trying to process everything that had happened in the past day. Adding to that the thought of the Rangers being slightly lax in their security, with the possible exception of Zriac, and a lack of regular attacks…he was starting to wonder why he had come to the planet in the first place. Memorising the information that had been given to him, he nodded and sank into the chain once more.

"Exactly what is the Cerberus Crystal? Where did it come from and is it truly one of the jewels of the Corona Aurora?"

She closed her eyes and smiled slightly. That confirmed he had met with Carinimin and had a chat with him. The former Grey Ranger had even probably shown him the slip of parchment with the Prophecy written on it. Her knowledge of the subject was sketchy at best; however, there was no denying that she was privy to information that eluded the Ranger from Earth. Leaning against the wall next to the door, she opened her mouth and began speaking – drawing on everything she had been told by her predecessor.

"It is true. I don't know what you know about the origins of the Crystal but whatever you were told is possibly vague or out of touch. My predecessor, the Blue Ranger before me, informed my sister and me about the Crystal and its great and terrible history. Everything started with the Ancients, powerful beings that predate all life anywhere in the Universe. It was they who created the first Morphin Grid, sowing the seeds of all life and conflict from that day. However, a story began to spread throughout their ranks, warning of a great danger to come."

_Flashback_

_Unknown time_

_The Ancient being shook his head as his 'brother' left the Chamber. The story had grown and matured on its own, far surpassing the rather flimsy confines he had placed on it. Everyone was now terrified of both the evil that was to come and the warrior who could hold such high esteem to wield the Powers of Hell. Yet, they had no idea that he had dreamt it up within the span of a star's life cycle – the red dwarf at the end giving him inspiration for the fires of Hell. Of course, that meant they actually had to invent such a place called Hell and maybe another place for those on the opposite side of the spectrum. He would ask one of the Sisters to do it as he wasn't really all that comfortable with creating a place for souls to go to. Well, besides going straight into the Morphin Grid._

"_Grash'Nak, thou must speak with ye."_

_He turned his head around to see the hulking form of X'Sdra approach. As was the case with the others, they had no other openings on their heads besides their eyes and small holes for breathing. Exactly _what_ they were supposed to breathe in, he was still trying to figure out but since everything internal informed them of their need and ability for respiration. Everything just faded into regular habit after enough time had passed. Whenever they managed to get around to creating life, they would make it so breathing was a universal trait. Everything else would just be a matter of evolution and necessity. Nodding in greeting, he orientated his head with his body and made yet another mental note; this time to not allow the range of neck motion to exceed a certain level. He could tell it was…disconcerting to many of his peers, even though they had the same ability. All language had been created by them, including every single dialect and variation of English; however, for X'Sdra to keep speaking in that flowery and overly-dramatic tone was grating._

"_X'Sdra, is this concerning the Prophecy? The warrior will be the fiercest ever but he will be compelled to protect the weak from the evil – even with the Powers of Hell."_

_X'Sdra shook his head and snorted slightly. There were many things that needed to be done before the Prophecy would have a chance of coming true; yet, no matter how many holes he poked into the story, it would come to pass exactly as stated. It had been a wonder they actually had figured out what gender they were supposed to be as none of them had any really defining characteristics…with the possible exception of hair length. Well, that was if one's gender could really be determined via a few more microns of length anyway. The first stretch of time creating everything that was to exist in the Universe was an interesting time, though he still didn't really understand the mechanics of the Imperial System. Oh well, that would be a job for the life they would nudge into motion._

"_Nay, friend, if only 'twere that simple then things would be past the planning stage. I come with dire tidings from the Room of Creation. Several of the Sisters have brought about a crystal of Power and forged its essence with great and untold power. Thou must act swiftly if the Prophecy is to be kept safe."_

_The first Ancient shook his head and exhaled softly. The Sisters were always creating things that didn't really have that much place in the Universe they were creating. So what if they had created some crystal to impart Power onto a being? It didn't really affect him all that much and would give an added aura of mystery to the Prophecy if there were two warriors to stand up against the evil. Alternatively, he could tweak the Prophecy a bit and have it…no, then that would be too much power for one warrior._

_He had work to do._

_End Flashback_

"Wait…Grash'Nak; I've heard that name before."

Weihan scratched his chin and tried to keep the air of questioning around him as his mind freaked out. The being he had faced in Hell was an Ancient – which explained the wealth of Power it had in its arsenal and its apparent immortality. In a way, it almost made a sick amount of sense that the one to have created the prophecy of the Hellfire Armour be the one that ultimately ended up guarding it. The thought sent a chill down his spine as he realised that, by gaining the Hellfire Armour and saving his friends from Psychogre, he had effectively released Grash'Nak from his 'job'. Privately, he also wondered about the warrior that had worn the Hellfire Armour before him and if he would end up in Hell once again to, somehow, leave the armour there so he could find it when he died…and everything was making his head hurt once more. Why couldn't he have that strange Zordon-esque voice booming in his brain about the final battle right about now?

"It is rumoured that, later in his 'life, Grash'Nak committed an act so vile and indecent that he was cast into the fires of his final creation; cursed to die as many times as needed in order for his Prophecy to be fulfilled. It was said that once it was completed, he would be free to join the other Ancients but there are other tales that speak of the Ancient being corrupted by the evil around him. Anyway, the Sisters created the Crystal and poured the essence of one of them into it – the creator of the Cerberus."

She watched him take in the information silently. Judging from his body language when she had mentioned the name Grash'Nak, it seemed he had some prior experience with him. However, even if that Ancient being existed, he would more than likely have been driven completely insane by the level of evil. Muitime could see the young Ranger was tired and was more than likely pushing himself harder than he needed; such was the case with all Rangers. An order for him to get some rest and recover wouldn't be taken well and would be ignored as that look on his face was all too familiar. However, if she couldn't help him further with instructions and directions, there was something else she could help him with.

He would need it.

TBC…


	14. Wager

Chapter 14: Wager

He had to strike first.

The Huran was injured but still had an impressive range of motion thanks to that battleaxe. The scar on his chest also seemed like a weak point, or maybe that was his imagination. At least he had managed to take off the chest armour with a few well-placed strikes. The shoulder chain mail would be next but he had to keep an eye on the Huran for as long as possible. Where the others were and how they were dealing with their battles wasn't his problem; technically, it was, but he had other issues to deal with. The remains of his Battle Armour lay, still sparking, behind him. Before the battle, he would have thought it impossible that his Battle Armour could be taken off his person by something such as an axe blow but, after being on the receiving end of the strike, he now knew otherwise. Perhaps he had been a bit too hasty when he had dialled up that particular setting…but sooner or later, the real Jabarkas would learn that move. He had to be prepared for that eventuality.

Circling his opponent, he cracked a small smile as he thought about Muitime's earlier proposal. To allow him to be shown the simulation room and be taught on how to use it was an extreme gift and one he wasn't going to squander away. The Elder Blue had been slightly surprised at his choice of sparring partner but that had faded away rapidly at the ferocity they tore into each other. She had left the room shortly after the sim had delivered the blow that ripped off his Battle Armour but he wasn't too worried. After all, he had dealt with tougher opponents than Jabarkas in his default mode before. He swallowed hard as he recalled the horde or Fiends and Golems that he had faced before seeing Xonix for the first time and refocused just as the sim made a lunge at his neck. Rolling under the swing, he brought his Sabre up to pierce the left shoulder of Jabarkas. His opponent grunted in pain and slammed the palm of the right hand against his helmet. As he saw the cracks appear in his visor, he began to wonder if it had really been a good idea to set the dials so high. Kicking himself out of the creature's grip, he blinked away the small flashes of light as his visor regenerated. It was time to step up a notch.

"Assault Armour!"

With a dull clanging sound, the powerful armour materialised into place. The twisted and broken remnants of his Battle Armour vanished back into the Ultra Grid for repairs. Within milliseconds, the transformation was finished and he took a step towards the Jabarkas sim...just as the Huran Rangers ran in with Muitime in tow. Having seen the ferocity of their attacks, the Elder must have summoned the other Rangers to watch. He stole a quick look at Zriac and chastised himself for summoning a copy of Jabarkas to fight, even if the Black Ranger didn't know she was his daughter. Or maybe she knew; he wasn't quite clear on that matter. Dismissing the Raptor sabre, he activated the energy blades on his gauntlets and settled into an offensive stance. Some small thought at the back of his mind informed him that, with laser blades on his hands, every stance he would have chosen could be an offensive stance but he silenced it with a mental wave of his hand. If the programming stats were set right, he could see if the blades could easily cut through the handle of the battleaxe or even completely destroy Jabarkas in one hit.

The axe came up and began its descent. Arms still raised, he stepped in and braced himself for the force of the blow. When it came, it honestly felt like he was supporting the full weight of his Dinozord. The simulated ground beneath his feet began to crack apart but he fought hard to keep himself steady. He gasps of the other Rangers reached his ears but he blocked them out with considerable effort. Slowly, inch by inch, he began to raise his arms against the immeasurable force pressing down on them to push the battleaxe back. Channelling energy into his blades, he could see that the blades were cutting shallowly into the handle but not enough to make a difference. Thinking quickly, he changed tactics and let loose a volley of mini-missiles from the belt launchers. The projectiles flew through the air with impressive speed and accuracy – ploughing into the unprotected back of the warrior. Simulated blood and charred flesh exploded from the alien's back and the Orange Ranger felt the pressure from the weapon weaken. Seizing his chance, he opened up with several extremely close-range blasts from the cannons on his shoulders before shoving the Huran back with all his might. Not even pausing to catch his breath, he began channelling all available energy into the diamond on his chest. If the Hellfire Storm was enough to destroy Jabarkas' clones then maybe with the right amount of power, it would be enough to destroy the alien entirely.

"That's enough."

The words stopped him in his tracks as the power drained away rapidly from the diamond. The simulated Jabarkas swayed on his feet for a few seconds before crumpling into nothingness with a small spray of light. Powering down, he looked at the cracks on the ground behind him before shaking the tension out of his limbs. He actually hadn't expected that attack with the blasters at close range would work but, he supposed, there was a slim to no chance of successfully dodging an attack. Even if a monster managed to dodge, that move would put it in the sights of the missile launchers on his belt. And, by some extremely miniscule chance, if all those attacks failed to work or even put the slightest dent in the opponent, he could call on the Zords and blow the monster up. After all, the Ultra Rangers weren't given any rules for a reason – meaning he could escalate a battle to his heart's content. One last shake of the legs cleared up the tingly numbness that had set in during the last attack and he looked at the Rangers with a neutral expression on his face. At least, he hoped it was a neutral one and not one filled with bloodlust.

"Why did you attack with that much force? Were you seriously trying to kill the training simulation?"

That question was coming from the Huran female dressed in white, Ulani. The White Ranger was looking at him with something akin to scandalised horror on her features; a look that was mirrored on many of the others. Weihan honestly wondered why it was such a big deal. He knew Huran was practically a planet with a love/hate relationship with war and Zriac had practically hammered that fact into him during the first five minutes of his arrival. He knew many of the inhabitants wanted to move away from the winds of war and battle but didn't know how. The uprising wasn't helping any and with the Rangers down one member, things were set to spiral out of control.

"Uh…that's why it was a training simulation. I was honing my skills and techniques so the next time I go into battle; I'll have a better chance at succeeding."

"Honestly, with those methods, it's a wonder you don't get killed more often in training."

Weihan stopped short at the almost mocking tone of the Huran's voice and turned slowly. The speaker was clad in yellow and there were small bracelets, not unlike the Morphers of the Elders, clamped around his wrists. His facial horns had been ground down to blunt tips and dreadlocks of green and brown hair hung from his head. The Ranger seemed not to notice the shocked looks of the others; nor the expression of extreme surprise and resigned alarm that crossed the faces of the Green and Purple Rangers. Everything in his body was screaming at him to take on the Yellow Ranger but he silenced the urge with a shake of his head. He was still a guest with the Hurans and, as such, he would not verbally attack another Ranger…even if that Ranger seemed to be a bit of a prick. Walking over to the control panel on the wall, he tapped a few buttons and fully deactivated the Simulation Room.

"And you think your training methods are any better?"

"Of course. Our training methods are much more refined and sophisticated. In fact, with our superior methods of training, I could beat you in a round of combat."

He shook his head slowly and tried to stop the grin from worming across his face. It was apparent to him that the Yellow Ranger had either been daydreaming during the whole 'welcome battle' with Zriac or had ignored it completely. Given the startled, shocked and concerned looks the others were giving him…he suspected it was the latter. He was extremely conflicted though. On one hand, he was tired and had made up his mind to visit the Royal Palace in the morning; something that was fast approaching. On the other hand, the Yellow Ranger was cruising for a bruising and he doubted the other Rangers would mind him being knocked down a peg or two. But on the hypothetical third hand, he supposed he could turn this into another training situation. And he would stop that train of thought right there before he ended up mentally scarring the girls.

"I'm waiting for an attack."

With an exaggerated sniff, the Yellow Ranger leapt at him in a…rather disappointing attack that could be easily avoided by stepping back. As the Huran fell on his face, Weihan struck. Grabbing the alien by the back of his neck, he flung him into the air before delivering a powerful roundhouse kick to the side of his ribs. The Yellow Ranger went down amidst the almost sympathetic groans of his peers but the Orange Ranger wasn't done by a long shot. Flipping away a few metres to set up the attack, he began running towards the recovering Huran and dropped to the ground. His momentum carried him across the slick floor and two swipes was all it too for the Yellow Ranger to hit to ground once more. Rolling onto his shoulders, he leapt to his feet just as two blades stabbed down where his head had been.

"We're using weapons now?"

The Yellow Ranger gave a haughty shrug and lifted his arms to reveal the wrist blades that had extended out from the bracelets. It was actually a very deceptive weapon and, if he had been a bit slower, would have easily ended the match. It would have also given him new holes in his head but they would heal rather quickly as they would have been extremely shallow cuts. Indeed, looking at the holed where the blades had rested in the floor, the Yellow Ranger seemed to not be putting a lot of pressure behind his attacks and was probably aiming for a demonstration of his skills…rather than a full-on sparring match.

"Of course, I cannot give you the full advantage after all. Why don't we have a little wager on the outcome of this battle? If I win, I will appropriate your Zord as my own personal property and you will have to pay me for the privilege of using it in battle."

"And if I win? No, I'll set my own condition. It's a pretty modest one. If I win, I will sit in on one of your training sessions and see how, with permission from the Black Ranger, your team stacks up against the Earth standard."

The Yellow Ranger nodded once, apparently thinking he had this in the bag, and Weihan attacked. If he thought the fight against Drasil with him in his Battlizer was one-sided, there was a new definition of the term being written up. Using a combination of his speed and Ninjetti abilities, Weihan had successfully slammed the Huran onto the ground with a few moves. Seemingly unperturbed, the Huran got off the ground and lifted both wrists into the air, the same shimmering curtain of energy enveloping his body. A blink of an eye later and the Huran was clad in the same skin-tight outfit he had seen on Zriac. Expecting to see some sort of visor on the helmet of the Ranger, Weihan internally groaned as a solid face-plate of yellow stared back at him. He could understand the whole 'no visor on the Black Ranger' thing but on the Yellow Ranger, as well as a few of the others, it looked silly. The Yellow Ranger lunged at him once more, taking advantage of his apparent awe at his uniform but, in his haste, forgot one crucial factor. The Huran Rangers may have been protecting a world that was almost constantly at war but Weihan had been protecting two worlds that were under similar degrees of pressure.

He never stood a chance.

With a flick of his wrists, he had summoned the Crocodile Sai and had locked them with the wrist blades. Experience with his laser blades in his Assault Armour had shown him that, while flashy, wrist blades actually had a very limited range of movement and manoeuvrability – being limited to the locked position of the wrists. Hand-held weapons, on the other hand, offered a higher number of attacks and abilities that could easily be used to disarm or even, if enough pressure was applied, destroy weapons. As the weapons became locked together, he shifted his weight and sued the momentum of the cocky Ranger, flinging him across the room while, at the same time, cleanly breaking the extendable blades from the bracelets. The Yellow Ranger slammed into the far wall but, by the time he had cleared the stars from his eyes, he was staring down the charged blade of the Raptor Sabre. Clearly defeated, the Yellow Ranger slumped to the ground in total and utter defeat while the other Huran Rangers shared soft laughter at his expense. The Orange Ranger dismissed his Sabre and looked down at the Ranger.

"Training begins now."

TBC…


	15. Tough Love

Chapter 15: Tough Love

This was not what he expected.

Pausing in his attempt at defence, Weihan looked at the other Rangers with an expression of…well, he supposed Bree would call it resigned incredulity. With the exception of Zriac, Xristi, Reefti and Ulani; everyone else was just flailing about madly or, as most of them were, trying not to hurt each other too badly. He could have excused it as a form of caring for the team-mates but when an offensive tactic called for a full-on waist grab followed by a slam onto the mats…he wondered if he would have better luck with kittens. Blinking out of his thoughts by a staff hurtling towards his head, he ducked the blow and turned to face his attacker. Surprisingly, Muitime had asked for a sparring session with him so he could compare techniques, something he had accepted. He had been slightly wary about her age and how it would affect her performance but his doubts and fears had been allayed once the staves had been pulled from her back.

"Keep your head in the game, Ranger! You'll need the reflexes for your morning journey."

He grinned to himself as he tracked the weapon's movements. His hand-eye co-ordination was slowly sharpening up and he knew he would need any advantage he could get against Xonix, Jabarkas and whatever other enemy force popped up out of the woodwork. He could have argued that as the reason why he had foregone morphing but that wouldn't be correct. It would have been better to say that he had literally been caught off-guard by a light smack on the side of his head, or maybe that still wasn't the best thing that could have been said. On the other hand, he had thought that the sparring would wait until after he had finished helping Zriac with her battle stances. Sure, he doubted he needed to stand that close to her but the Black Ranger hadn't complained and had…and he needed to get his mind back in the present moment. The staff rose into the air and fell but he was already on the move.

Leaping up towards his attacker as soon as the end of the staff impacted the ground, he feinted a flying kick and waited for her to block. She behaved exactly as he hoped she would – dropping her weapon onto the ground and bringing her arms up to defend against the strike. Summoning up the Ninjetti Spirit, he somersaulted through the air and grabbed onto both of her hands before throwing her across the room and into the far wall. As the other Rangers gasped in shock, he flash-teleported to the impact site with his Raptor Cannon trained at the fallen Elder. For her part, Muitime stared up at him with an expression of defeat and exhilaration on her face. There had been fights in the past but none had given her the same rush of adrenaline as the final battle against Xon'ixia…until now. The Orange Ranger fought with such speed and brutality but he was always keeping a lookout for the others and how they were progressing in their training. She smiled warmly and grasped his offered hand, brushing the dust off her armour. There was a fierce warrior under his indecision and uncertainty and she knew in her heart that he would crush all in his path for Universal peace.

"Elder Blue! This is an outrage! We cannot have this barbarian from a backwater planet teach us any long –"

The Yellow Ranger fell to the ground in an undignified heap as Zriac stepped back and whistled as innocently as she could, the other Rangers smothering grins. Droas was a good Ranger, though his extremely privileged upbringing made him near-impossible to work with at the beginning. It was only after she had saved him from a deadly gas attack that he began showing his kinder and gentler side. In a perfect world, she could have even been expected to court him…but a perfect world, this was not. His earlier haughtiness had made a bad impression on her as had his tendency of over-dramatising every small thing that displeased him. On the other hand, if what she had heard from Reefti was correct, it seemed like his over-the-top antics weren't really a way of compensating for anything except his overall freakiness. Her gaze turned to the human Ranger and she suppressed a sigh from escaping her lips.

Earth was a place where aliens were relegated to the role of 'villains' and movie monsters. There was little to no chance of ever setting foot onto the planet unless she was part of a raiding party or advance scout. If that were to happen, none of the powers and abilities she had on her would be enough to save her from destruction. The Orange Ranger was a temporary refugee from that planet and, based on what errant thoughts she had picked up from him, there was something he had done that had been terrible enough to send him fleeing. The true miracle was that, out of the several hundreds of thousands of planets out there, he had come to Huran in the first place. She felt a small pang of shame at her actions and her attacking him after the Elder had welcomed him as backup but she had a good reason to. Had it only been yesterday that he had come? It seemed like fate was drawing them together but pushing them apart.

"This 'barbarian' has fought tougher things than you. Even in training, you can go all out against your comrades. They can take the punishment and, maybe I'm forgetting something here, but you can morph can't you?"

The Black Ranger nodded once as the others looked sheepishly at each other. True, they could morph while in a training session – that wasn't against the rules that had been passed down from the Elders. They could also shrug off blows that would bring down lesser races and could keep running for days, if necessary. It seemed the Orange Ranger was picking apart at their determination to not push themselves in training. An errant thought wafted across the forefront of her mind – that she still hadn't shown him how to use the shower in his room – but she squashed it down hard. That was something for a later time, hopefully before he left the planet…or maybe earlier. She would work out the details later, which was something she needed to do with the information on her father.

Muitime had been kind to her growing up. She had been like a second mother but her birthmother was never far away either. The sight of her in the tube, connected to various wires and conduits still gave her the shivers, though she knew her mothers would never hurt her in any way. Her father on the other hand…well, she was comforted by the knowledge of his vow to never again set foot onto the planet. It was because of him, specifically one of the many beams he had been exposed to as his time as a Ranger, that she had to be placed inside the Healing Tank for countless years. Her only memories during those years were jumbled and unformed, why was why she considered it a boon that she had been placed into a coma for that time. She was also a bit fuzzy as to _why_ she stayed a baby…but the science went right over her head. However, what she knew about her father had sunk into the very core of her soul.

Jabarkas was a child of the late King and one of his many concubines. He was scouted for the Rangers to serve as the Red Ranger and he fought many battles in defence of Huran. In the Rangers, he met Muiesaf and developed a deep connection with her, a connection that soon developed into a full-blown relationship. The Mighty Weapons seemed like they could never fall…until Prince Xon'ixia came. His silver tongue and gilded words allowed him to access the inner circle of the King and tug on the strings just right. The King killed himself soon after that and the planet was plunged into the fires of anarchy. During the final battle, almost all of the Rangers had been wiped out and Xon'ixia had forced her father to make a terrible decision…one that had the result of him leaving the planet forever.

"That is not the point! The point is that you should not be teaching us how to deliberately injure or harm our comrades! If Sradil was still here…"

At that name, Zriac creased her brow. Droas had been strong friends with the Cyan Ranger and his abandonment of the team had made the Yellow Ranger judge her harshly; however, Droas had been forced to admit she was a better leader than his friend would have been. Sradil had always treated her with barely disguised disgust and had often told her that, if she stepped out of line, he would be forced to re-instate the old King back to his position. How that was possible was beyond her as the last King was more than likely dust and bones but, if her many battles had taught her anything, if there was something a Ranger needed to do, he or she would find a way to do it at any cost. She sometimes wondered if he was working towards that very goal, now that he had turned his back on the Rangers.

"I'm just trying to help you be a better Ranger. If you want to stick with your old training techniques, that's your call. Now, if you'll all excuse me, I have to get ready for tomorrow."

Weihan nodded once at Muitime before walking out the door that would eventually lead to his quarters. His body ached like hell after the beating the Elder Blue had given him; though he was sure she was feeling a few new scrapes and scratches herself. He could hear ghostly chuckles in his mind and knew that Muiesaf had enjoyed seeing her sister thrown around the Simulation Room. What tricks the Elder Green Ranger knew were locked away inside her mind, never to be seen again by anyone. It saddened him a small amount that another Ranger's battle techniques and strategies weren't shared to the other Rangers…but he supposed that was the way of life outside Earth.

Sliding open the door to his room, he sat down in the chair overlooking the square and sighed. He had been on the planet for one day but it seemed like a lot longer. The sisters needed him to retrieve a powerful artefact that had been created by the same beings as Grash'Nak, a crystal that was rumoured to contain the power to change the destiny of the individual forever. He had learnt many things in the process such as the three individuals who had been thought to have started the uprising and the one who was actually behind everything. He had also been out into the city on a recon mission and had been forced to change into his Battlizer Armour. The proverbial cherry on top was the fact that he now had an idea of where to go and what to do for the next step to reveal itself.

He just hoped tomorrow went smoothly.

TBC…


	16. A Small Problem

Chapter 16: A Small Problem

"Why are you here again?"

He rolled his eyes as the trio looked at each other sheepishly. He had set out in the early hours of that morning, only having about three or so hours of sleep, and had made his way to the site of the dilapidated Royal Palace. After pausing to eat a breakfast wrap he had procured from the food replicators inside the Meteor Masher, he had circled the site a few times to see if he could find the main entrance. He had been halfway through his second loop of the building when he had literally crashed into the Black, Green and, interestingly enough, Yellow Rangers. Of course, they were unmorphed and were wearing rather garishly coloured clothes in a hideous attempt to look casual. He seriously wondered if Muitime had allowed them to leave looking like that, or if she was too busy laughing at the attempt to take notice when they left.

"We, uh, thought you might need some help but the Elder didn't want to send everyone."

Nodding thoughtfully, he chose to drop the subject altogether, instead choosing to look at their choice of 'fashion'. Honestly, he thought that wearing nothing but a bra under a tight white top was something that was only seen in bad B-movies and porn flicks but both Zriac and Xristi were wearing that very ensemble. He would have to keep a pin or some other sharp object handy if he wanted to get anything done on the mission. If he didn't…well, the Yellow Ranger would be getting and eyeful of 'backwater' mating rituals; something he guessed would be practically universal. Already, he could feel his pants becoming tight and he chomped down on the inside of his cheek to snap himself out of it. The clothes on the lower half were almost as bad – Xristi in extremely short shorts and Zriac wearing what could have only been described as a piece of tissue paper masquerading as clothing. He swallowed hard and looked at the side of the Palace while trying to get the urge to peek up said 'skirt' out of his mind.

"Right…the objective is to find a way into this place. The main entrance seems to have been bricked up and I can't see –"

"Wait, you want to break into the most Holy of places – the Royal Palace? You must be crazy if you expect us to follow you in there."

He could almost see the incredulity and sarcasm dripping off the words. At his curt nod, the Yellow Ranger let out an overly dramatic wail of despair and slapped both of his hands over his face. The almost day-glow neon yellow top was bad enough but when paired with an equally bright pair of red pants…well; he didn't want to make any negative comparisons. Even if the Yellow Ranger was wearing a short black cape, he would bite his tongue and save the maniacal laughing until later. Rolling his eyes once more, he tapped the side of his glasses and waited for the X-Ray overlay to pop up. The walls were too dam high to climb up and offered no easily-accessible handholds or places which his grappling hook could latch onto. A few metres behind him, there was an opening of sorts that had been sealed up with tightly-packed rubble and, when he looked closer, rotting bodies of what he assumed were homeless Huran war veterans. Another sign of the underlying thread of war that was wrapped around the planet.

"Well, it's your choice. I was going in there anyway and having a stuck-up and prissy Yellow Ranger to look after will be too damn much for me anyway. I thought you would have been knocked off your high horse after the beating you received lat night."

The Yellow Ranger sputtered indignantly as the Green and Black Rangers giggled. Glancing around for witnesses, Weihan pulled out the Raptor Cannon and aimed it at the wall in front of him. Muitime's information had been correct; the outer walls of the Palace were dotted with fully and half-sealed holes made by the sackers and looters. Strangely, they were all centred on the other side of the Palace – the side that pointed towards the Processing Core. Even though he knew he had the 'blessing' of the Elders to go into the Palace, blasting open a wall facing the line-of-sight of Muiesaf was a bit…well, he wouldn't say it was reckless, but there was a definite strand of utter stupidity there somewhere.

"Fire in the hole!"

The three Rangers behind him hit the ground as a brilliant sphere of white, orange and red energy flew out of the barrel of the Raptor Cannon, impacting against the wall in a massive explosion that made the ground tremble under his feet. Smoke and dust billowed out from the impact site and he took a step towards the wall, hoping with everything that the blast had penetrated the wall. He really didn't want to pull out his Assault Armour for something as simple as knocking down a wall. However, he could see that his efforts had not been in vain as a medium-sized hole had been blasted open. He took a moment to admire his work before his eyes widened in alarm. Either by some sort of self-repair system gone crazy or some other supernatural force, the wall was rapidly repairing itself. Indeed, in the time he had spent staring at the hole in shock, it had closed up a small amount. Growling under his breath, he grabbed the arms of both Zriac and Xristi and began running as fast as he could towards the closing hole. The Yellow Ranger looked shocked and alarmed for a moment, before he saw the closing hole and started running as well.

"Hurry!"

With an almighty swing, both Black and Green Rangers were propelled through the hole as he dove through head-first, a split second before the Yellow Ranger tumbled through. After a few more seconds, the hole had closed – leaving the quartet of Rangers literally in the dark. Channelling his flames into his hands, Weihan levitated a medium-sized globe of flickering fire to the ceiling and looked around them. They had arrived in one of the halls of the Palace, one that looked like it hadn't been touched by anyone or anything since the suicide of the last King. Ancient blasters littered the ground amidst thin strips of metal, bone and other unidentifiable materials. Cracked information panels on the walls flickered intermittently and there was a mild hum that came from somewhere around them.

"We should not be here. This is sacred territory. I cannot believe the two of you would willingly come inside a place like this."

"If you have a problem with it, leave."

Weihan shook his head and made sure his Raptor Laser was inside its holster. He didn't think there would be anything inside the Palace that could harm them directly or indirectly but it was better to be safe than sorry. Strangely enough, the sulphuric smell that had been present in every single breath of air on the planet was lessened considerably inside the building. Zriac and Xristi didn't seem to be having any troubles breathing so, until one of them keeled over suddenly; he wasn't too worried about any sort of deprivation on their side. However, he had another dilemma of sorts on his hands as he had absolutely no idea as to where the throne room was. Unless he magically stumbled across it, he was literally groping in the dark. Well, it was time to stick to one of his old adages – to pick a direction and start walking. Taking in a deep breath, he began walking down the debris-strewn path in what he hoped was the right direction. He had to keep his mind focused on the directions the Elder had given him and not the rather attractive females behind him wearing what could only be described as 'vapour wear'.

He exhaled slowly and looked around him. The self-repair function, or whatever it was, seemed to be only working overtime in the area he had blasted through as he could see small holes in the walls with light streaming through. More disconcertingly, he could also see hundreds of bones littered throughout the room…complete with the desiccated remnants of crude Fiends and Golems. That sight all but cemented his inkling that this Prince Xon'ixia that he had heard about was actually Xonix as there was no other being in the Universe that used Fiends and Golems. However, the presence of them set his mind on edge. As far as he knew, the last King had offed himself before the final battle with Xonix and hadn't been a part of the fighting. That was what he knew but it didn't really gel with everything he could see around him from the bones to shattered armour and discarded and broken weapons. Really, it seemed as if the King had been killed instead of taking his own life; however, if that were true, it would cast serious doubts on the information that had filtered down to the Rangers…and may even mean that the King had survived for longer than earlier thought.

"Do you really think this barbarian is leading us the right way? For all we know, he could be leading us around in circles!"

Yes, it was official. The Yellow Ranger was officially getting on his nerves. He bit back a sigh and looked back at the complaining Ranger as a tingle of electricity shot through his body. On instinct, he dropped to the ground, pulling out his blaster and looking for potential enemies…but none came charging from the dark corners. Taking in a slow breath, he holstered the Raptor Laser once more and rose to his feet. That tingle of electricity…if he had to venture a guess, it was similar to the feeling he received whenever a Ranger morphed. Looking back at the three Rangers, he could see that they hadn't morphed and were still in their 'street' clothes. He doubted he had been on the planet long enough for his Ultra Crystal to be attuned to their Grid, though stranger things had happened before.

He shook his head once more and looked down the hall. The ball of fire illuminated the halls that branched off the main path, though none of them looked as though they led to the throne room. The Yellow Ranger would, unfortunately, be proved correct if he didn't find a way there soon. If he was on his own, it would be much better as he could take his time and easily document the differences between the Fiends on the ground and the ones he had fought against. Finding similarities between the Golems would be harder as a seemingly sturdy plate of armour had crumbled to the touch. Giving up on the idea, he scanned the hall once more to look for a sign he was headed the right way.

"It's right up ahead."

He started at the voice and looked back at Zriac, the female Ranger looking ahead with a slightly glassy expression. Unnerved about the information that had come out of her mouth; the Orange Ranger slowly walked in front of the Huran and placed a hand on her shoulder – over the protests of the Yellow Ranger. The Black Ranger blinked hard at the touch and when her eyelids opened, Weihan could see that she had returned to her normal senses. Amusingly, she did nothing to move his hand from her shoulder and seemed, for the briefest of moments anyway, to lean into its warmth. Barely able to suppress a chuckle from bursting from his throat, he removed his hand and nodded once, looking in her eyes to see if there was any visible spell traces. Seeing none, he decided to trust the daughter of Jabarkas and keep walking down the hall.

Finally, after around fifteen minutes of continuous walking that was only punctuated with complaints from the Yellow Ranger, they reached an ornate archway that led into a truly cavernous room. A combination of age and looters had caused the room to loose a lot of its grandeur but the four Rangers were still entranced by the sheer majesty pouring from the remnants. Unlike the coarse ground in the hall, the floor was tiled marble that was decorated with intricate designs revolving around the creation of the original Power Bracelets and, humorously enough, the upbringing and life of the King's son. Not a single detail was spared from the death of his mother to being inducted into what Weihan guessed was the Army…everything was there. Columns of twisted marble rose from the floor, almost seamlessly blending in with the archaic terminals and viewing screens. The Ranger tried to imagine what it had looked like in the prime of the King: the Royal servants running around and relaying up-to-the-second data from any battle that was being waged, the King striding between the consoles and dictating orders and sitting in the massive throne that occupied the very centre of the room. Seriously, he had seen the throne of Xonix and could see the eerie similarities between the two.

"On the wall behind the throne…by that measure, it should be right around…here."

Feeling on the wall with his bare hands, Weihan searched for a seam, crack or anything to show that a secret passage or elevator was hidden. The overlay in his glasses showed a hollow space that lay in the very centre of the wall, meaning the elevator was probably there. He pressed his hands against the walls, trying to find the button to release the doors. Muitime had said there was enough power for the elevator to reach the lower levels and that meant he would have to teleport out when he had found the Cerberus Crystal or whatever being possessed it. He certainly hoped he didn't have to fight in the Palace and wreck it more than it already was. After ten minutes or so, he slammed his right hand against the wall in frustration.

"Access granted."

…this was probably what he should have tried from the beginning. A few seconds after the electronic voice had faded away, a dull rumble was heard throughout the room as the stone and metal doors parted, revealing…a disconcertingly dark space where the elevator should have been. The Orange Ranger peered down the shaft, using his fireball to illuminate the walls. The lift well certainly looked large enough for all four of them to fit comfortably and he could see the lift slowly making its way up from the low levels. Slowly being the key word to use as it seemed to be ascending millimetre by millimetre. Behind him, he could hear a crackle of static and turned to see the Yellow Ranger speaking into some sort of communications device.

"Elder, we have reached the location of the elevator. I am sure our communications will cease as we descend, so I must ask: why did you ask me to attend to this barbarian?"

Weihan rolled his eyes as the girls looked uncomfortable that the truth had come out. Marching over to the communications device, he plucked it out of the Ranger's hands before speaking.

"Quit your whining. Do you want me to seal your lips shut? No? Then shut it. Sorry Elder, we're at the throne room and about to go into the elevator."

He bit off the words 'when it arrives', though he knew Muitime probably knew or had and inkling of how slow the elevator moved. There was probably a very good reason for it but if it was a place where Jabarkas and Muiesaf had gone for a dose of 'fun', he didn't want to know what it was. He cast his eyes at the open doors and the top of the lift that was still creeping so slowly upwards, he spoke once more into the communicator.

"I'll find the Cerberus Crystal or see who has it."

He shut off the device before the Yellow Ranger could react and tossed it back to him. The Yellow Ranger caught it without blinking and stowed it into his pockets within the blink of an eye. The Orange Ranger wished that the Yellow Ranger had stayed outside the Palace and left the girls with him, though some small part of his mind informed him that every Ranger would be needed. He had serious doubts about that but bit his mental tongue.

"We may have a small problem…"

He turned in the direction of the voice and saw Xristi looking at the elevator, trying extremely hard to keep an embarrassed smile from creeping over her face. Zriac seemed to be giving him a 'man-eating' look which sent shivers down his spine, though he had absolutely no idea what had brought that about. In contrast, the Yellow Ranger seemed to be visibly afraid for his life and kept shooting horrified glances in the direction of the lift and to him. Exasperated by the craziness that seemed to have come over the other Rangers; Weihan looked past the open doors of the lift…and stopped dead. It was correct that they had a rather small problem.

Emphasis, of course, on the word small.

TBC…


	17. Elevator Action

AN: Some parts of this chapter (well, about 3/4) is NSFW. Nothing too graphic. On the other hand, I brought to you all guts being ripped out, blood flying and a massacre of an entire planet, so it should be par for the course.

Chapter 17: Elevator Action

He was in heaven.

Not literally, of course, but metaphorically in heaven with two attractive females pressed up against him. Xristi was to his right, his arm pressed tightly into her body, his knuckles brushing against the waistband of her shorts. If he extended his fingers a bit, he was sure he could see if Huran anatomy was similar to humans…well, he could if Zriac wasn't doing a slightly better job at keeping him at attention. In their mad dash to get inside the elevator, the Black Ranger had somehow walked backwards into the elevator and had practically wrapped her back around his front. It was as awkward as it sounded and the Orange Ranger was trying extremely madly to stop something from popping up and saying hello. However, that didn't do a damn lot when it was already saying hello in its own way…right under her barely-there skirt. It was almost laughable: on Earth, he would be considered a pervert and a molester but on another planet, and in his situation, he was considered…well, he wasn't quite sure what he would be considered as but with Zriac wrapped around him…

"Please do not move any more. I cannot bear for this elevator to get stuck because of something you did."

He stifled a chuckle that swiftly turned into a groan as the Black and Green Rangers began giggling. His right hand uncurled from its fist, confirming his thought that he could stick his hand down her shorts if he wanted. Judging by the sultry look Xristi shot at him, it seemed she wanted him to see exactly how similar their anatomies were…but that was something that could possibly wait until after they escaped from the shoebox lift. Indeed, the lift they were crammed into was barely larger than a toilet cubicle – despite the size of the elevator shaft. Internally, Weihan theorised that this was due to the multiple layers of security that allowed the lift to descend into the lower levels. Whether it needed to shake and jerk so much was up for debate but, considering the situation he was in, he really didn't mind that much. AJ's face flashed up in his mind for the briefest of instants and he closed his eyes in resignation. Based on what he had seen in a few of his 'future visions', AJ would be happier without having him around and without the Power in her life. Ultimately, that last point was a moot one as she had morphed with the White Crystal once before…which was an ironclad guarantee that she would be using it in the future. The Crystals had reformed so that the only way the Power could be transferred was if the current bearer died and, judging from the last time he had seen him, Will wasn't going to keel over anytime soon.

"Careful, Ranger; that almost went inside me."

He felt his face grow hot – even though there was no way for that to have happened. He desperately tried to think of something, anything, other than the closeness of a certain part of his anatomy to Zriac's. Although, if what he was feeling through the fabric of his pants was correct; everything on the lower half was similar to a human's. He shook his head and wondered for the millionth time how long the elevator would take to reach the bottom. Derailing his lewd trains of thought, he began thinking of the differences between Jabarkas, the Elders and the new generation of Rangers. The first time he had seen Jabarkas had been on the steps of Town Hall after he had somewhat infamously threatened John Howard into dropping his request into revealing his identity. He had been a real monster, a threat that was more real and dangerous than even the Wolf Wraith or Apollonia. Fearsome and strong was how various other news services reported the newest warrior that was in Xonix's service. He should have realised sooner that not all Hurans looked as demonic and monstrous as Jabarkas but he had been shaped and moulded by his battles with him.

In contrast, Muitime had looked slightly softer and less intimidating than Jabarkas. Granted, that was due to her being female and being slightly less of a warrior though the difference between them wasn't a lot. What was a great difference, however, was comparing Muitime, Jabarkas or – if he stretched it a little bit – Carinimin to the newer Rangers like Xristi or the Yellow Ranger...whose name had slipped from his mind. Even Zriac, the daughter and direct descendant to Jabarkas, looked slimmer and more human-like than the elder Hurans he had seen walking through the streets. As the lift jerked a few more times, he wondered why that was so – especially in Zriac's case. As one who shared the same bloodline of Jabarkas, he had expected her to seem equally as monstrous as her father and to have the same bloodlust in her eyes. However, he had found out that she had another type of lust in her eyes altogether and a fierce determination to win at any cost. Of course, he had no idea how that applied to their current situation but everything would progress smoothly if that wasn't what he thought it was...

He swallowed hard as the sound of a zip being pulled down reached his ears and the cool air of the lift pricked at his skin. Oh, yes, that was something happening right there and he needed to think of something else right now. Said other thing was the fingers of his right hand slipping into Xristi's shorts, the skin above his nails registering the barest wisps of hair for a brief instant. Closing his eyes as he felt a warm wetness envelop him, he thought about the Cerberus Crystal and what it could entail for the Rangers. There was no doubt in his mind that it could be used by one of the Rangers for a Battlizer-esque power-up. Whether or not such a Crystal could contain an extra Zord was unthinkable to him, although stranger things had certainly happened. And if the Crystal was offered to him as the mark of the Enforcer, what would he do then? He could certainly take it as it would be within his rights to do so; however, he would like to not add to his growing repertoire of Powers as it felt like the others were all struggling to catch up. Even the death of the young woman had seemed like she had been deliberately placed in the path of his blade, a sentiment he had been mulling about for some time.

As the warmth lowered onto him, he closed his eyes and tried to relax. It wasn't something that would come easily due to the extremely bold and forward activities of the female Hurans pressed against him but he knew that this would be one of the only moments of peace and quiet he would be having for a while. Positioning his legs and hands better, he began to move his body with the jerking and shuddering elevator car. He needed this stress relief, even if the Yellow Ranger was only a few centimetres away and humming loudly to himself. Twenty minutes passed with the only change being the speed in which the elevator was descending. He didn't think it was possible for an elevator car to actually travel slower than it had done so previously and wondered if the movement had thrown it off whatever track it had been travelling on. Or maybe the gears needed lubrication of some kind; that was another possibility. Holding Zriac closer to his chest, he gave one final thrust that was accompanied by a low groan. As she convulsed around him, the elevator came to a stop – doors sliding open silently to reveal a corridor lined with revolving red lights.

The Yellow Ranger practically bolted out of the car as his right hand felt a few spurts of liquid. Hiding his smile, he pulled his hand free of its 'resting place' and pulled himself out of Zriac as well. The two Hurans gave him looks of muted disappointment before they nodded and cleaned up as best as they could, though Weihan could still see some liquid leaking out from under Zriac's…skirt. Lifting his right hand to his face, he inhaled the scent from the liquid and chuckled at the light smell of vanilla. Shaking his head minutely, he adjusted his clothing once more and allowed the instincts of a Ranger to settle onto his mind. Snapping his eyelids open, he withdrew his Raptor Laser and stepped out of the elevator. As expected, the air in the corridor was somewhat stale but the floor was clean of any debris. There were no passageways that branched out from the main hall and, for that, he was most grateful.

"We should follow this path down and see where it leads. I hope you know where you are going and that the…experience in the elevator did not dull your senses any."

Rolling his eyes, he took point for the group and walked down the hall. The revolving light gave his movements a somewhat jerky effect, similar to a ghost movie he had seen once. He had advanced no more than a few metres when a wall of light enveloped him. He spun around to warn the others but his words died in his throat as he saw the scene behind him. Powerful turrets descended from the ceiling as a loud voice boomed through the air too fast for him to hear. He wallowed hard a third time as the barrels began to spin slowly; indicating a rain of death was imminent.

"Run!"

A wave of Orange covered his vision for a brief moment as his Battle Armour solidified. The other Rangers flash-morphed as well and the quartet began running as the turrets opened up behind them. Bolts of searing energy and sharpened shrapnel whizzed past his helmet and he could feel the solid impacts as they repeatedly hit the back of his body. Wondering if this was his punishment for his adventures in the elevator, he summoned his Sabre and allowed the other three to run ahead of him. Turning to face the unending spray of death, he channeled power into his Sabre and pressed the button for the Fire Blade. Raising the pillar of flame into the air, he ran at the turrets slashed in a horizontal arc. The flame smashed through the ancient metal and caused the remaining ammunition inside the chambers to overheat and explode; effectively destroying the turrets from within. Walking away from the wreckage, he looked ahead to see if he could see the other Rangers.

He was all alone.

TBC…


	18. Yellow Pain

Chapter 18: Yellow Pain

There was movement up ahead.

Weihan didn't know how many more 'surprises' he could take. Everything from more turrets to flying spears and even a pit filled with poisonous creatures. That last one wasn't even a minor annoyance as the animals inside had long since perished without any food, water or even air. He had been forced to dismiss his Battle Armour after a particularly nasty surprise in the form of a strong acidic fountain from the floor and was now walking through the halls with his Hellfire Armour blazing brightly. There was still no sign of the other three Rangers anywhere and he desperately hoped they hadn't run afoul of the death traps. He didn't really care what happened to the Yellow Ranger but if Zriac and Xristi were hurt or even killed because of his actions…well, he wouldn't be alive for much longer. He didn't want to think about that possibility and forced his mind to think of positive thoughts, even thinking of the fun that was had in the elevator.

The hall seemed to stretch on forever and, while he wasn't quite sure of it, seemed to curve in places. Being completely and totally honest with himself, he really wanted to summon his Battlizer and blast through the floor but he guessed that doing so would be a 'cop-out'. The King must have designed the hall as a test to prove who was the most worthy to receive the Cerberus Crystal and sidestepping everything wouldn't be honourable at all. Either that or the Head of Security was a real sadist back in the day. Shaking free of the ghostly whispers surrounding him, he began to move forward toward the source of the movement – hoping it wasn't a trap in disguise. The last time that had happened, he had unleashed a flood of flaming liquid that had burnt away fairly quickly. If he hadn't had leapt up to the ceiling and used his Ninjetti abilities to hold himself up…well, he would have been a literal flaming Ranger then. He hoped it was either Zriac or Xristi as their abilities would be needed to navigate the hall. Also, he would be lying if he wasn't hoping for a repeat of the earlier events, though he knew he had to keep his head in the game at all times. Unfortunately, it seemed that fate and luck were both visibly pissing on his chances.

"Whoever designed this should be hanged! I can excuse the falling ceilings and the flaming oil but not the separation of Power! Though, I dare say, I am the only one capable of navigating through this maze!"

Well, the Yellow Ranger was just about the only Huran besides Jabarkas that he didn't want with him. Ultimately, though, he didn't have a lot of choice in the matter. Unless Zriac magically appeared somewhere between them, he would be stuck with a Ranger that seriously resembled all of the pomp and arrogance of a pre-Ranger Will. Shaking his head, he walked forwards, wondering what it would take for the stick to be removed from the Yellow Ranger's butt.

"It isn't a maze if it's a straight path."

The Yellow Ranger spun around in shock and Weihan sighed as the Huran Ranger took on a defensive stance for the briefest of moments. The Yellow Ranger was morphed, his wrist blades having been somewhat repaired in their Grid. Black scorch marks marred the solid yellow bodysuit and there was a visible crack running down the front of his helmet. Sticking into his right shoulder was the broken shaft of one of the acid-tipped arrows that had flown at him when he had stepped on a trigger-stone. Dangling from his thigh was the crushed – but mostly intact – remains of one of the fist-sized arachnids that had swarmed over him but had left him mostly unscathed. Weihan could see that the mouthparts had detached from the rest of the body and had clamped onto the material hard. The Huran had to be hurting but showed no visible sign.

"Dear Lord, not you. I thought you were with Zriac or Xristi and corrupting them with your evil ways. I dare say that your experience in the elevator was enough for me."

"Listen you little shit, so far, you are the only other individual I've come across. Shut up and put up."

Brushing past the still Ranger, Weihan looked down the hall with a resigned look on his face. There was nothing but bleak walls and the barest hints of light…and that was even with a blazing fireball burning in front of him. Sighing softly, he started down the path, only looking back occasionally to see if the grumbling Ranger was following. All Rangers had a purpose in their respective teams and if they had none, the Power wouldn't choose them. So, the question that was nagging at his mind was: what purpose was there to have a grumbling, pompous and arrogant idiot on the team? Besides the obvious position of being bait, he didn't see a reason why the Yellow Ranger was even a Ranger at all. Of all the Rangers he had seen anywhere in the Universe or Multiverse, every Ranger had a vital role to play in the team. Fluttershy was the heart of the Equestrian Rangers, whereas Billy was the store of wisdom and experience. Tommy was the leader of most Earth Rangers and those that were out of his 'jurisdiction' were helmed by Carter Grayson of Lightspeed.

Even within the Ultra Rangers, there were clearly defined roles. He was the leader of the team as a whole, Eliza was the second-in-command and Alex was the third. The Black/Green Ranger was also the team tactician and could be trusted to make up strategies on the fly…well, when he wasn't drooling over any females in the area or asking him where Rachel had vanished. Liz helmed the Crystal Rangers and he could see she was also starting to become a surrogate 'big sister' for Bree and the Ranger Sentinels. Amusingly, he hadn't seen any Hurans who had even heard of the Sentinel Prophecy; their minds being fixated only on the Cerberus Crystal and the rumours that were flying around. As for the roles in the Huran Rangers, he hadn't really seen them in action with any kind of clarity, though he knew that Zriac was the leader and Xristi seemed to be the heart of the team, though that was a duty that was also possibly shared by the Purple Ranger. Reefti, the Blue Ranger, seemed to fill the spot of the 'obligatory team sexpot', though from what he had seen during the Ranger training session, she had no qualms about holding back the majority of her attacks. She would only pull her punches if she was facing the Green or White Rangers.

"Wait! Hold up!"

He turned back to the Yellow Ranger and sighed. Somehow, the bumbling fool had managed to trip a trap that he didn't even know was there. From the looks of it, it looked like something thick and viscous had bubbled up from the floor for some reason, possibly to immobilise the would-be attackers. On the other hand, there wasn't much in the way of death from getting your feet stuck. Sure, it was an inconvenience, but as a way to get your head chopped off…it was lacking somewhat. He sighed in exasperation and fought the urge to run a hand through the hair that was under his helmet and turned to leave. However, something on the edge of his vision caught his attention and he activated the zoom in his helmet to have a closer look. It seemed that there were small holes or ports opening up at roughly neck-height. The reflection of the fireball glinted off something metallic inside the holes and he just reacted instantly. Not caring that saving the Yellow Ranger would probably result in more mindless blathering, he crash-tackled the Ranger, sending them crashing to the ground. As the Yellow Ranger prepared to unleash a torrent of complaints at his behaviour, a series of small bursts made him look up to see several blades whiz through the air where his neck would have been. The two Rangers watched as the shrapnel embedded itself into the walls, mere millimetres above the openings.

"I…must say that you might have just saved my life."

The Orange Ranger rolled his eyes at the statement and formed a 'blade' of fire out of two fingers. Sweeping the blade over the liquid coating the boots of the Yellow Ranger, he adjusted the heat slowly to melt the adhesive away. For a brief moment, he almost wished Alex was there so he could freeze the 'glue' but thought against it. Knowing him, if he was here, the Orange Ranger wouldn't have gotten as close to the Black Ranger as he had. As it were, he was praying to whatever and whoever was listening that Jabarkas never learnt he had gotten inside his daughter. Dying once had been enough, thank you. On the bright side, if he ever managed to get back with AJ, he would have a wealth of experience to draw upon…though he probably wouldn't tell her about the 'reverse probing'. As the last of the goo melted off, he helped the Yellow Ranger up and continued down the hall, internally bracing himself for what was to come. The strange dreams and flashes of the future, not to mention the countless talks with Tommy and Carter, had informed him that whenever an antagonistic Ranger was saved from a deadly attack, they would spill out everything from their past that caused them to act in that antagonistic way.

He didn't have to wait long.

"I must admit that I have been clouded by my planet's views of outsiders from an early age. My family served the King in his final years and they have passed the upbringing down ever since. My sister and I were trained in the ways of the Ty'Rantis; the art of fighting in the style of the Ancients. We were out on a training run near the space port when a gang of outsiders began to cause trouble. For some reason, they…wished to make an example out of my sister and abducted her in a blind alley."

Weihan swallowed hard and wished that the others were here. He was not ready to hear a case of rape and survivors guilt, though he would have to deal with it at some point in the future. Keeping an eye out for more hidden dangers, casually blasting away a few of the more obvious triggering mechanisms, he allowed the Huran Ranger to talk; though, he wondered if it was a pre-requisite for every Ranger these days to have some sort of hidden psychological problem. If it was truly the case, then he would love to see what issues could be drummed up for future Rangers.

"When I finally reached her last known location, she had vanished. Her tracker had been torn off and there was a small pool of blood on the ground. My father beat and berated me for days and instilled in me the determination to never let that happen again…and to crush all off-worlders and those that didn't meet my standards. When I was chosen as the Yellow Ranger, my father stated that I should become the leader of the group as it would make a man out of me. Instead, Zriac was chosen and…I acted as I acted towards you. It was only through the actions of her on the battlefield and Sradil that I was able to realise my arrogance and dial it back…though some habits are hard to break."

Well, on the scale of Ranger life tragedies, that was practically on the same scale as Andros, Dana and maybe even Leo. Sure, there were a few details that didn't really make a whole lot of sense, such as the part with the beatings from the father and the strange feeling that itched in the back of his mind whenever he heard the name of the 'rogue' Cyan Ranger, but he guessed everything would sort itself out in time. He nodded once as the Yellow Ranger; Droas his name was, finished speaking and sighed softly.

"Look, we'll do a 'buddy hug' later. We need to find the Royal Vault and see if it's been broken in to; though I promise you that in the future, if I see any trace of your sister, I will contact you immediately."

He heard the Yellow Ranger chuckle in amusement and he began walking forward. Only after five minutes had passed, did he think over his words and feel a sense of incredulity begin to grow in his gut. A group of off-worlders taking a young Huran girl away from her world, bringing her to one of the countless planets that held intelligent and sentient life…and he had said that he would look for her. It would be a one-in-a-trillion chance to find where she had been taken first but he was a Ranger.

Rangers always looked after their own.

TBC…


	19. Unpleasant Surprises

Chapter 19: Unpleasant Surprises

"Well this looks promising…"

Weihan sighed to himself and looked back the way they had come from. Seemingly endless halls stretched in both directions and he sighed in frustration once more. Thirty minutes or so after Droas had explained himself; he had quite literally crashed into Zriac and Xristi. The Black Ranger had explained that they had been swept up in some kind of energy wave and deposited in various places along the hall. It had been fortunate for Xristi that Zriac hadn't been too far away when she had fallen afoul of a similar trapdoor trap, the only difference being that the poisonous creatures were still alive thanks to cannibalism. How that had worked out for them, he didn't want to know…though he was certain that there were no more traces of the creatures. Indeed, they had come across the still glowing pit only a few minutes ago, necessitating a blind leap of faith. The jokes afterward from Droas about that being a slightly easier task to navigate than the others did not help anything…but at least he had managed to use the rather dim and flickering light of the halls to his advantage. While he had been walking directly behind Zriac for the last five or so minutes, she was now trailing behind and examining some of the stranger markings on the walls.

"How long do these tunnels go for? For that matter, how the hell were these things built?"

"They were built over many, many years, Orange Ranger."

At the familiar growling voice, Weihan tensed up and summoned his Sabre. At the sight of the weapon and change in his demeanour, the Huran Rangers stepped back and looked around for the source of the voice. Channelling more power into the flickering globe of fire, almost everyone shut their eyes as the sphere exploded into a pure-white conflagration that lit up the entire hall for what appeared to be miles – fully illuminating the speaker. The three Hurans' jaws slowly dropped open in shock as the figure began to move closer to the Rangers. Though there was no sign whatsoever of the battleaxe, the now-iconic scar on the chest of the Huran was enough to set him off. A small part of his mind wondered how he had evaded being detected by everyone or if he had, somehow, managed to find another way into this literal straight-edge maze. Muitime had said there were other passages, after all.

"I come in peace, Ranger. I am merely here to see your interactions with my daughter and, if need be, to remove her from your protection. My master has the responsibility to kill you."

Jabarkas grinned, the light shining off his facial horns and teeth. It was only by pure luck that he had remembered where the emergency outer hatch was on the outer perimeter. Heaving open the rusting door had allowed him to, somewhat precariously, make his way down an extremely steep set of stairs that would lead to the main hall of the main Royal Vault. The lack of proper lighting didn't help at all and, for the first time in over a thousand years, he began questioning the sanity of his father. However, he still had to find out who had left him that strange and almost brain-teasingly short communication, informing him that he had a daughter…though, judging by the faint scent hanging in the air, he was too late to save her from his 'charms'. He wasn't really sure how to feel about that but, if she was comfortable enough around him to accept him into her, well, that meant the whole 'removing her from him' thing was now dead in the water.

As the Orange Ranger tried to make sense of what he had just said, the Huran warrior looked over the other three Rangers appreciatively. Somewhere along the line, it seemed that the Huran's trait of looking like monsters had considerably watered down. As a result, he was amazed at how human-like their features were; although they still possessed the facial horns and the unpredictable hair. While both of the girls smelled very much like the Orange Ranger, only his daughter had the smell coming from within her. Suddenly, he was extremely glad that all Earth Ranger Powers made their male holders sterile. If that had happened with the Power Bracelets Carinimin had created the first time round…well, he didn't really want to think about that. In fact, as he waited for the Orange Ranger to make a move, he was laughing internally as he thought of the slightly garbled status report he had received, right before the communication signal had gone completely dead.

Quaker was doing its job admirably against the Rangers. It surprised him greatly that yet another new team had popped up out of the woodwork but he guessed that was the nature of things these days. Whatever the case, the new Rangers were doing a rather admirable job at pulling together to defeat the creature. On the other hand, Quaker wasn't the strongest creature he could have sent down by a long shot…but the other options he had in mind were still in their magic-induced hibernation. Lots of area damage and deaths had been done by the monster but it seemed as though the new Rangers were wisening up to the weapons of it. Oh well, if they managed to destroy it then it was of no matter to him. He doubted the Orange Ranger would seriously attack him in front of his daughter but stranger things had happened; plus, he felt no parental feelings for the girl.

"You…you're my father?"

The question seemed to come out of left field and he turned his head towards the girl. There had been no questioning tone in her voice, just a flat and almost expressionless tone that informed the Huran warrior that she may have known all along. Indeed, knowing how Muitime was with the rules, she would have discerned the information from a young age, if not being told directly. He nodded, keeping his eyes directly on his daughter. She seemed to slump slightly but then, as if remembering who she was with, shifted into a neutral position. The Orange Ranger still hadn't moved from his position, though the grip on his Sabre had lessened somewhat. Jabarkas shrugged lightly and looked down the hall. They were actually pretty close to the door to the Royal Vault and, if he hadn't appeared out of nowhere, would have been upon it in a few minutes at most.

"I am. However, it is not my intention of moving you away from the Rangers or bringing you into the fold of my Master."

"Then what is it that you're here for?"

He kept his eyes on the Huran and shifted his weight slightly. For all his earlier moaning that the trio of Ranger had tagged along, even though the lift down had proved slightly distracting, he was grateful that they were there. If he had been alone, there would have been nothing to stop him from attacking the Huran Warrior on sight. If Jabarkas was willing to push aside his vow of never again setting foot on Huran for he search for his daughter, there wasn't anything that was truly stopping him from taking her away with him. Well, nothing except for the might and power of the Rangers and the Tri-Spino Dragonzord. He was damned if he would let Zriac be ripped from the Rangers but Jabarkas had said that that wasn't what he was here for. He almost wished he had morphed but not doing so was a decision that had come and gone within the blink of an eye. He waited for the alien to answer his question and readied himself for anything.

"I am here to assist you in your search for the Cerberus Crystal. It is an immensely powerful artefact and one that, under the correct conditions, can literally turn the tide of a battle by itself."

"It is good to hear that."

The unfamiliar voice faded away a split second before a barrage of green and yellow lasers filled the hall, the blasts coming from both sides. Acting in unison, the two Ranger leaders present leapt to the 'fronts' of their position and began deflecting blasts that came too close. Weihan grunted in pain as an energy bolt sliced through his right sleeve, burning the skin on his arm. He couldn't afford to heal himself just yet as the bolts were flying thick and fast. Spinning around to deflect a particularly tightly grouped cluster, he sent the white-hot globe flying straight ahead – down the length of hall they were yet to walk down. A muffled explosion later, the lasers stopped firing from that direction. Sharing a quick glance with Zriac and Xristi, the Orange Ranger began running down the hall; noting, with some irony, that the scorching on the walls was eerily reminiscent of the time he had launched a high-temperature sphere at the Wolf Wraith all those years ago. Tapping into his Ninjetti speed, the walls around him blurred as he neared what he hoped was the shooter. Registering a blur of movement up ahead, he skidded to a dead halt as most of the energy drained from his body.

They were too late.

TBC…


	20. Cerberus Unleashed

Chapter 20: Cerberus Unleashed

The doorway was enormous.

Rather, the hole that was now the doorway into the Royal Vault was enormous. He knew for a fact that his superheated fireball didn't cause the damage as there had been an abnormally large and blackened mark a few metres before the hole. Well, that, and the fact that his fireballs didn't generally leave behind the impressions of a laser cutter in whatever they impacted against. Not wanting to take any chances whatsoever, he allowed the Power to wash over him and felt the familiar weight of his Battle Armour settle on his shoulders. As he heard the lasers behind him taper off, he stepped through the threshold and readied himself for anything. Looking around, he could see the interior of the Royal Vault was a short hall that split off into several smaller rooms. There were signs of more laser cutting on several of the doors but he couldn't really look closer to say for certain as the object he was looking for was right in front of him.

"Looking for this, Ranger?"

Correction: it was in the hands of the slimy-looking Huran in front of him. Casting his mind to the briefing, he picked out the name of the Huran from the recesses of his mind: Dasur of the Wandering Hand Clan. In his opinion, that clan name reflected the sleaziness of the individual members…something that wasn't really supposed to be a good thing. He narrowed his eyes as he registered the double-barrelled gun that was pointed at him, though his grip on the Sabre didn't loosen. He heard several clicks on both side of him and he slowly turned his head to look at the four Huran males that had appeared out of nowhere. Two of them carried the same double-barrelled weapon as Dasur, while the other two carried long serrated blades. The blades were made of the same metal as the robotic parts of Drasil and the Orange Ranger seriously hoped his opponent the previous night hadn't been melted down. Clearing his mind of all extraneous thought, he growled at the Huran.

"What do you want it for? You can't use it for anything evil or perverted."

"Ah, so my reputation precedes me! I know all about what you seek in your deepest and darkest thoughts and that is something that will never come to fruition as long as her father is alive. On the other hand, you may be able to achieve that as he will never come onto the planet. However, I digress. The Cerberus Crystal is in my hands now and I will be delivering it to my Master. Drop the blade or you will find yourself with a few new holes."

Although he hated to concede defeat, the perverted fuck had a point. The others were too far behind for them to make a quick rescue and, even if it was possible, he doubted Jabarkas would even want to help the Rangers. Slowly, he placed the Raptor Sabre onto the ground and, while doing so, managed to get a better look at the Cerberus Crystal. To say it was beautiful would have been a gross understatement. Coloured a deep reddish-orange, the finely sculpted figure seemed to call to him in a way that was indescribable; much like when he had first set eyes on the Orange Ultra Crystal. There were detailed canine features and three distinct heads separating from a body that appeared to have bolts of light or lightning flashing from inside. Perhaps it was the strange angle he was looking at it from, or maybe the distance, but he swore he could see a seam or a join at the base of the neck on the middle head. As his Sabre touched the ground, it vanished in a shimmer of light and he stood back up.

"Whatever your Master is planning, it won't work."

Dasur seemed to contemplate the words for a short period of time before nodding once. The Huran placed the Cerberus Crystal on his right wrist before chuckling lightly, stepping towards the Ranger while his men stayed in their places. The Orange Ranger wondered exactly what was going through the Huran's mind as he couldn't be mistaken for female no matter how high-pitched he made his voice. He swallowed hard as he realised that Dasur could possibly choose his victims by scent, rather than sight…and as he had been in extremely close contact with two female Hurans in the recent past; he didn't want to finish that train of thought and tensed his body for an upcoming attack. He heard a dull thunk as the tip of the blaster knocked against his helmet for a few moments.

"My master…why do you suppose he is my master? Sure, he has Frenter and Rookac wrapped around his fingers but me? He has nothing on me. I, however, have a wealth of data on him and the cause he turned his back on to begin this campaign. Such a brilliant mind…but as I do not possess any power of my own, he has graciously allowed me to use this."

Carefully ensuring he didn't show his cards too soon; Weihan began channelling energy to his hands; which were still at his sides in a neutral position. There was minimal effort needed to stop the energy from erupting as flames just yet but that would be a good thing if that meant his 'secret' could stay safe for a few more moments. Dasur lifted his right wrist up and admired the Cerberus Crystal, looking at it from all angles. The Cerberus Crystal was calling out to him and showing him flashes of images, monsters and something that looked suspiciously like yet another three-headed Zord. He mentally shook his head and stifled a sigh. The Crystal wasn't meant for him; if anything, it was meant for the Rangers of Huran to use against whatever attacking force came along. It would probably be used by Zriac as she was the closest analogue to a Red Ranger the team had.

"You're insane. Power that great always comes at a price; you can't pay up."

Dasur looked at him and his smile grew impossibly wide. Weihan was reminded of an image he had seen on the internet a few times of a strange white face with no eyelids, nose or eyebrows and sporting an insanely wide mouth that was contorted into a pain-filled smile. The smiles of the image and of Dasur were extremely similar but, compared to the insane smiles of Jabarkas, Xonix, Psychogre and Xonkas, it was nothing he couldn't handle. Of course, it was still rather unsettling.

"Oh, but I have a sacrifice for this power. The fools and rebels at the gates of the Ranger Command Centre are all sacrificial Y'lchn. They were shepherded there by the words of my Master, unaware of their true purpose. Indeed, you can even say that the whole point of this uprising was to grant me this power…power that I will use to crush you into dust!"

Dasur stepped away from the stunned Ranger and chuckled darkly. The collective of supposed rebels and assorted miscreants at the gates of the Ranger Command base was always just a ruse. Their cause was just and pathetically noble but unfortunately for them, it was one whose window of opportunity had come and gone hundreds of years ago. The loyalists hadn't gone away though and had indoctrinated their beliefs into their children which was, if he was wholeheartedly honest about it, actually pretty tragic. On the other claw, he wasn't paid to think about emotionally troubling stuff like that. All his time under Lidars had been leading up to this moment and he was determined to grab onto it with both hands. Raising his hand up over his head, he closed his eyes and allowed the Power to run through his body. It seemed foreign to him and almost felt like it was rejecting him on the cellular level; yet, he was in control of the device and he was its master. Wrestling with the mental connection, he forced it open and soaked up what small amount of knowledge was transferred to his mind before the connection snapped shut abruptly. The Ancients had created the device well but it, like many other things, had fallen before his hands and mind. He only wished he could have heard it scream as its tender insides were shown to his mind but that was only a fleeting wish.

"Cerberus, give me strength!"

A beam of light smashed up from the ground, enveloping him in a cocoon of searing fire as every sense in his body flared with unimaginable agony. His blaster slipped through limp fingers and shattered onto the ground making him wish, for the tiniest of moments before the pain reclaimed him, he had shelled out more credits for the slightly more armoured one. His armour cracked and, finally, shattered as his muscles expanded at an alarming rate; armour plates lengthening from his shoulders and back to cover his upper torso. Inside his mind, he screamed with fear as his head twisted and contorted to resemble the main head of the Cerberus Crystal; his eyes forcibly shifting in their sockets as his skull rearranged itself. A guttural howl ripped free from his throat as he collapsed to his knees that were beginning to bend the wrong way. Opening his reformed jaw, he vomited up a mass of black and red flesh that was covered with green and blue blood…he vaguely identified the mass to be around seventy percent of his intestines before another ball of flesh expelled itself from his gut. The pain…there was nothing but the pain of the Power and of his insides morphing but he was supposed to get the armour of a Ranger. That was supposed to be the deal – activate the Crystal and the powers and armour of a Ranger would be his!

"No…no, this is all wrong. He tricked me!"

His voice was in the same guttural tone as the howl and his teeth gnashed together angrily. The flares of power and energy around his body faded away as his four men crumpled to the ground, seemingly unconscious. He hoped they were unconscious anyway as they deserved a better death than as sacrifices for his power. Noting that the other Rangers had finally arrived into the Vault, he allowed a grin to slide over his features once more and pushed himself onto his legs. The sounds of a thousand screams echoed faintly in his ears as his bones finally locked into place, giving him the sturdiness he needed to stand upright. Flexing his fingers, he chuckled as he saw the claws and the slight serrations on the edges.

"Dasur, just give up the Crystal and we can try to find a way to restore you. Don't do anything drastic."

Drastic or rash, no…he wouldn't be doing anything like that. The Rangers wanted the Cerberus Crystal from him but he wouldn't give in. Taking a step towards the group, he blinked in surprise as the ground shook slightly. Maybe that was for the best as he would be doing something that would benefit the Master greatly.

It was time to have some fun.

TBC…


	21. Not Fun

Chapter 21: Not Fun

"What the fuck was that?"

Through the dust clouds obscuring his vision, Weihan cracked a small smile at Zriac's words. It seemed his rather abrasive language was rubbing off onto the Black Ranger fairly rapidly, over-writing her pre-established speech patterns. Or maybe she was pulling the profanity out of his mind as the Hurantic language didn't really have the same swears. The echoing booms shook him out of his reverie as he rolled to avoid a large chunk of masonry that had come from, of all places, the ceiling. The canine themed monster Dasur had morphed into had taken one step towards them and then had leapt up, using its claws to dig up into the ceiling. The monster had vanished up the hole and it had been extremely fast…at first. A few minutes after that, the first growled curses had started as three claw-tips had fallen from the exit point of the monster. Still, the tunnelling of the monster was nothing to sneeze at as his internal radar estimated the fiend would reach the surface of around three minutes.

"…with language like that, you are indeed my daughter. Getting back on the topic; that was what happens when a fool forces a connection with Powers that were not meant for evil. I never thought I would see it in my lifetime. Judging on its speed on the ground and its agility, I cannot continue on the chase as I lack the power needed for pursuit."

Weihan nodded and looked up the hole, carefully avoiding the waterfall of dirt, rock and masonry chunks raining down. He could teleport to the surface and catch the monster unawares but that would be a bad move considering he didn't know the true objective of the monster. A better plan would be to wait until the monster appeared on the surface and re-engage it then. He looked at the other Rangers carefully for any sign of weariness or signs that they had been beaten down by the avoidance of the traps and trials in the hall. Droas seemed to have regained his centre after the emotional reveal but seemed to be shakily looking around; almost as if he was expecting more monsters to pour out from the walls of the Vaults. Xristi was slightly nervous and was alternating from tugging her shirt and bending over to massage her thighs…both actions not really doing him any great favours. Zriac was pacing and casting timid glances at Jabarkas, who was trying his hardest not to give her any sort of notice at all. And then there was himself, who had been mere seconds from getting a new hole in his head and had witnessed a Huran painfully transforming into a dog monster. Jabarkas caught his uneasy look and nodded slowly.

"It pains me to say this, Ranger, but you are the only person that can chase after it. I will see if the Emergency Escape Vent is unobstructed and will get the Rangers away from here. I am sure the other Rangers will assist you but, until they arrive, you will be on your own."

The Orange Ranger nodded and Jabarkas fought the urge to sigh. He had been on Huran for little more than ninety standard Earth minutes and had already lapsed into the old instincts that had saved his team from destruction. He had mostly avoided thinking about his past as a Ranger under the service of Xonix but now that his Master was trapped in another dimension, he had found his thoughts wandering on more than one occasion. Of course, as he was on the planet he had sworn he would never return to, the feelings had intensified with the knowledge of his daughter but…well, it was rapidly becoming clear to him that the Huran of the present had no place for a warrior like him. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about the prospect of leaving the planet empty-handed, though he felt a deep sense of calm wash over his mind as he looked at his daughter. She would guide the Huran Rangers to their sweetest victories and raise them up from their most crushing defeats. On the other hand, she would have to learn how to rein in her temper from the Orange Ranger and that was something he didn't really want to think too much about.

There was one thing that he was totally sure of: Xonix would never be allowed to come near Huran. He would fight his master on that point but, seeing as how it was rather insignificant in the grand scheme of destroying the Ultra Crystals, he doubted more than a second glance would be made to the planet, even if Xonix knew about his daughter. Actually, he thought with an internal grimace, he would have to brace himself for a few bits of teasing from his Master on occasion as well as, if he had to tell the entire story, jokes about the Orange Ranger being his future son-in-law. He hoped that never was the case and his daughter moved on to someone more…respectable. On the other hand, it wasn't really his business anyway.

"I see light at the end of the tunnel. He's broken through."

Jabarkas nodded and ushered the others away from the mouth of the opening. Weihan swallowed hard and began channelling his energy to his hands and feet. He had no idea if this was going to work or not and, if it didn't, had no other backup plan ready. Exhaling slowly, he pushed the first flames out of the soles of his feet and felt himself rise shakily off the ground. The mini-jets that were shooting out the palms of his hands gave him some degree of stability but he still wondered why he was doing something that was both flashy and extremely idiotic. Perhaps it was to make himself look better to both Zriac and Xristi but, if what he had experienced in the lift was any indication, they had already gravitated towards him and would ignore any other signs. Pushing away the more favourable thoughts, he applied more power and rocketed up the shaft – wondering why he hadn't just summoned his Assault Armour or his Battlizer for the ascent. The spikes of his shoulder-pads scraped against the sides of the walls, producing brief bursts of sparks but there was little to no damage from the minor collisions. His eyes scrolled through the menu options as he heard the first terrified screams coming from above.

"Orange Ranger, can you hear me?"

The voice washed over his ears so suddenly that he had to jerk his body to a halt to avoid crashing into the wall. Regaining his equilibrium and balance, he began his ascent once more and answered the call from Muitime. The former Blue Ranger sounded worried and slightly apprehensive about something, though that was possibly just his imagination. On the other hoof, Dasur had mentioned something about the group of rebels trying to break into the Processing Core being sacrifices for his power or something along those lines. He wondered off-handed how they would have met their end but banished the morbid thought. Without waiting for his reply, Muitime continued.

"We have a large doglike monster tearing up the city. He's headed for the Y'lchn fields on the other side of the mountains. You and the others need to stop him before he escapes. The other crisis is that the large crowd of rebels and rioters that were outside the doors of the Processing Core just exploded and…and their remains coagulated into some sort of fleshy mass monster. I've dispatched the other Rangers to deal with it but it looks like you are on your own for the canine."

He nodded once as he burst from the hole to find he was still inside the Royal Palace. The wall directly to his left sported a large hole with jagged sides, sparks weakly bursting as the self-repair systems struggled to cope with the massive damage. Pawed footprints led out of the Palace and into a small house that was nearby. Gruesomely, he could see a large puddle of blood spreading out from under the door and he swallowed hard. Dasur needed to be stopped one way or another and if that meant he had to destroy the Cerberus Crystal, then so be it. Cutting the energy to his hands and feet, he landed on the ground softly and took a brief moment to look down the hole he had just come from. Extremely disconcertingly, he couldn't see the bottom and had to close his eyes as a wave of vertigo swept through his body. Staggering away from it, he passed through the gaping hole and out into the city.

He was at a different point than his initial entrance point; though from the scuff marks his enhanced vision picked up on, it wasn't that far away. Drawing the Raptor Sabre, he walked toward the blood-splattered house, wary of what he would find within. Pushing open the door, he activated his rather underused helmet 'headlights' – spotlights that shone out from the eyes of the Utahraptor – and looked into the darkness. There had been a family of three living here; that he could see from the remains. Half a male Huran was strewn across a table, green and grey organs still pulsing weakly. His other half was dangling from the ceiling by a foot, the claws on both feet ripped out violently. Reaching out with his left hand, Weihan closed the eyes of the Huran and swore he saw the edges of the mouth crease into a smile before the body fell limp.

He didn't have to look far for his wife.

A female Huran had been thrown violently into the corner, several long scratches carved into her naked body. Although he tried to look away, the Orange Ranger could see the area between her legs had been utterly destroyed by something extremely thick. Her eyes were open and filled with terror and pain as her breathing rapidly weakened. Crouching down to close her eyes, he heard her death rattle as she finally expired from the trauma and horror of her experience. As he stood up, he accidentally nudged to side of her body and watched, with growing nausea, as it flopped over to reveal a large exit wound on her back. Shuddering in revulsion, he pushed past the back door to reveal the ultimate fate of the third occupant.

"Sweet Celestia…"

The third Huran could have been a young child or even a baby; it was hard to distinguish how big he or she might have been due to there…not being much of a body left. Literally, all he could see was a small pool of blood with the mangled remains of a hand and a leg that looked gnawed on. Bloody paw prints led away from the scene of carnage to a small alley that ended at a railway to the mountains.

The hunt was on.

TBC…


	22. The Paddock

Chapter 22: The Paddock

Maybe he needed a bit more practice.

Gripping the handlebars of the Ultra Cycle tightly, Weihan followed the blood-flecked paw prints on the ground as he chased after the creature that had been Dasur. Passing another mangled corpse, he swallowed down the bile rising in his throat and looked to the radar once again. Dasur was still a good forty clicks ahead of him and was gaining ground fast. Screeching metal up ahead informed him that yet another passenger train had been forcefully derailed by the canine monster and, if he didn't get there sooner, its passengers at its mercy. Revving the engine more, he applied more power to the accelerator and raced off in search of his prey. There had still been no word from Jabarkas, as odd as it was to think about, regarding Zriac and the others, though he knew that they could handle themselves against him if it came down to that. Swerving hard to avoid a shell-shocked couple, he primed the lasers and hoped he could squeeze off a few shots and slow the monster down.

Over the roar of the engine and the sounds coming from up ahead, he could hear the explosions that came from the Huran Rangers' battle with the flesh monster. Thanks to the remote camera drones from the Meteor Masher, he was able to see how the battle was progressing and identify the price of the power. The thing that was being fought didn't even look like a conventional monster, if a monster could be called 'conventional' at all. For all rights and purposes, the being was essentially a giant lump of torn and ripped flesh that had been pulled together and given a form that looked something like a steak tartare…granted, one that was trying to actively kill everything around it. Grimacing at the mental image, he pushed those thoughts from his mind and pulled up the targeting screen.

The monster was still too far away for it to be locked on but he could at least stop any debris and rubble from harming the civilians the monster had overlooked or spared. A few seconds ticked by as he aimed and fired, the volatile energy destroying larger chunks of rubble from a long distance. He could see the Rangers start in surprise as the debris was destroyed; a strange oddity whose 'dots' were soon connected by Reefti, who gave a slightly unsure thumbs-up gesture in his direction. However, the creature that Dasur had become had taken advantage of his lapse of concentration and was far ahead. The Ultra Cycle was only racing at around half its maximum speed but, if he opened up the throttle any further, he wasn't going to risk setting the survivors on fire. Shaking his head, he opened up the engine a bit more and mentally checked the connections to the Ultra Crystal. Satisfied that everything was in the green, he coaxed the machine to speed up; taking careful notice of the excess energy bleeding out the back. Streaking through the streets, he could see small paper scraps and leaves catch fire within seconds…something that was acceptable to him within the set parameters. If metal or stone began breaking into flame; he would have a problem. Slowly, he began creeping closer to the fleeing monster while still blasting away rubble that was falling or that had trapped civilians. Passing through a gate that had been torn completely off its hinges, he stopped dead.

"What the fuck is this?"

There was a large paddock in front of him where a number of large-ish animals were milling about. He took a moment to study how they moved and acted but kept one eye on the radar. Dasur was getting away and creeping closer to the mountain range but there was something about the animals in front of him that had a calming effect on his nerves. Around the height of an average human, they moved around on all fours –sometimes adapting a bipedal position to strip the leaves from a tree with a strangely spiked tongue. Appearance-wise, they looked eerily similar to bulls; the differences being the cranial horns were much longer and the fact that each animal was coloured like a design student's orgasm. Two horizontal 'plates' covered its back and, to his eyes at least, could possibly provide a sturdy platform. Checking the radar once more, his eyes widened slightly as he saw that Dasur was seemingly patiently waiting for him to catch up. Turning off the engine, the Ranger dismounted his bike and began walking towards the creatures; noting the dagger-like teeth that protruded from the jaw under the eyes. He kept his hands empty and forced them to swing freely at his sides.

"Nasty beasts Y'lchn…but you probably already knew that."

Blinking at the voice, he turned to the left to see, of all Hurans on the planet, the bartender from the day before lazily sitting under a leafless tree. There was a stalk of some kind of grass in his mouth, giving the Huran the overall appearance of a typical human farmer. Biting off the end of that errant thought before the Huran could pick up on it; he nodded slowly and scanned the crowd of animals for the canine monster. The farmer/bartender/whatever the hell he really was continued speaking, oblivious to the Orange Ranger's lack of interest.

"Yup, they're nasty critters but they can take the weight of a fully grown male on their backs without any grumbling. Of course, they'll be itching to take a piece of your hide every second but if you're that desperate to climb on their back, I guess a bite or two won't be so bad. Of course, we can eat every single part of them – both inside and out. Meat s good for everything including wines and even the contents of the stomach – once properly treated – can be good drinking but I guess you already know that yourself. Mind you, I don't care much for the goings-on in the city these days. I got my small bar and this job and my son…he's a good sort but he thinks me to have killed myself a long time ago…"

The voice trailed off as the Huran finally noticed his companion wasn't listening to him. Rolling his eyes, the Huran waved an oddly burnt hand in the direction of the paddock. Weihan narrowed his eyes slightly as a small glint of metal shone from something that looked like a fresh wound; he hadn't seen that before but he guessed he had other things on his mind. Nodding absently, the Orange Ranger checked the radar again before frowning. Based on the information, Dasur was directly in front of him; however, the canine monster was nowhere in sight. Cautiously taking another step, Weihan wondered where the monster was. The radar was usually pretty good with detecting monsters that were hidden from view but…

Oh crap.

The Orange Ranger dove to the left as the ground under his feet split open; Dasur propelling his body up from the ground and swiping blindly with his claws. The points raked over the back of his armour and produced a shower of sparks along with a high-pitched screeching that made the ears of the Y'lchn around them twitch in distaste. Weihan hit the ground hard and rolled to one side, various warnings flashing up on his HUD informing him of mindless and, in his opinion, rather trivial things like 'Emergency Power' and 'Metal Cache'. Blindly grabbing for the Raptor Laser, the Ranger fired off a short volley at Dasur but missed as the canine monster dove into the ground once more. Slightly alarmed at this turn of events, the Orange Ranger glanced at the radar while trying to ignore the grunts and groans of distress coming from the animals around him. The bad thing about the radar was that it didn't cope with a 3D battlefield very well. No, that wasn't it. It worked perfectly on Earth but there was a lot of interference on Huran, making it almost impossible for him to detect if the monster was under the ground or not.

A sharp peaking of the ground to his right was all the warning he received before the monster blasted up once again; this time delivering a powerful strike to the front of his armour. The Ranger flew back as the deep gouges in the metal struggled to repair the damage done. Slamming against something hard, the Ranger fell to the ground and shook his head drunkenly as he tried to regain his bearings and work out which way was up. Raucous laughter from Dasur rang through the air as the agitated sounds grew louder.

"This isn't how I planned this…"

If he had been paying more attention, he would have seen the look of extreme alarm on the Huran farmer's face and acted appropriately. Unfortunately, he had just been hit with an attack that was making him see stars and a part of his mind was worried about what Jabarkas might be doing with his daughter and the others. So, it came as a massive shock to both him and Dasur as a throaty bellow resounded through the air – silencing all noise. Blinking slowly, Weihan looked around for a sign of another massive beast coming from somewhere. Barring the Huran who was trying to get into some sort of armoured shack, Dasur who was sniffing the air cautiously and himself; he could see nothing out of the ordinary. The Y'lchn were still milling about aimlessly and the human wondered if anything short of an atomic bomb would get them to snap out of their relaxed state. Shaking his head slowly, he picked up the Raptor Laser from the ground and converted it to the Laser Blade. Holding the energised blade out in front of him, he took a few steps toward Dasur – intent on destroying the creature before the Cerberus Crystal was able to add more…enhancements to him. Already he could see ripples of energy passing from the crystal to the legs of the creature and he internally groaned, not wanting to know how quick the fiend could be after the power-up had finished.

A blast of hot and stinking air from behind made him pause. He hadn't forgotten about what had stopped his flight but had pushed it out of his mind as a thicket of trees or a mound of compost…if Hurans used compost. However, the Orange Ranger was cursing and kicking himself for not realising what the other implication could have been and for failing to put together the facts of why the farmer/bartender had practically been soiling himself. Swallowing hard, he slowly looked over his shoulder to see what he knew was behind him. A massive green and grey Y'lchn male was behind him, eyes glowing with rage and a setoff matching six holes in its left flank. The creature opened its mouth and bellowed once more, blasting the Ranger with its breath that smelled slightly of rotten lemon. Weihan looked at his Ultra Cycle and mentally shook his head. His decision to disembark from the vehicle now seemed like a rather silly thought but, as was usually the case with his recent decisions, was probably a good decision at the time. He felt as if he was in a bad slapstick comedy and slowly brought up the Raptor Laser, converted it back into the blaster form and mentally dialled down the power to what would be considered a stunning level. A volley of blasts later and the bull had eyes that were slightly glazed over but, to his utmost horror, were rapidly clearing.

Dasur chose that moment to begin his retreat once more, the new enhancements to his legs providing him with an initial burst of speed that seemed rather…cartoonish. Weihan took off after him a split second later, pushing more power to his legs to make up the difference. His anger was almost straining against its non-existent bounds and he began to see the cloud of souls at the edges of his vision. It would be great if he could call on the Hellfire Armour and destroy the damned brute but he needed to be circumspect about the devastation and that it didn't impact too much on the Y'lchn paddock. For the time being, he would need to see if its initial sped burst would allow him to catch up with Dasur.

"Orange Ranger, can you read me?"

The voice washed over him, momentarily causing him to loose his footing. Regaining his balance while keeping an eye on the radar, he flicked open the radio channel. Surprisingly, an image box snapped open on the lower left-hand side of his vision; though it was still small enough to not be too obstructive. He could see the crumbling ruin of the Palace in the background as Xonix's best warrior helped his daughter up. To think that Jabarkas could be gentle, domestic even, was a bit too much of a stretch for his mind and he shook his head, flipping over a disturbingly large mound of Y'lchn dung. One misstep from him and it would be years before he could start to get the smell out of his armour. He supposed he could use it as a weapon but if they needed to form the Ultramax or any other mass amalgamation Zords; he would rather not have the others struggling to hold their breaths. Leaping over a, thankfully, smaller pile of shit, he looked at the image box once more and blinked in response. Actually, he hadn't really been blinking since the encounter with the massive bull and it was a miracle his eyes hadn't totally dried out.

"I'm a bit busy here, leave a message and I'll get to it later!"

Xristi sighed in exasperation and he vaulted over a rather stunned female Y'lchn. Dasur was still in front of him but he could see his back at least. Still, for a Ranger with unlimited amounts of cool tech at his disposal, the monster was tantalisingly close. Summoning up the Power, he launched three fireballs at the canine monster, growling under his breath as all three of them missed horribly. The Green Ranger shook her head and opened her mouth to speak again…and everything went to hell.

Another bellow echoed through the air, the noise making the two runners screech to an extremely abrupt stop. Even Xristi snapped her mouth shut as the colour slowly drained from her face. Weihan knew what was behind him as he surely hadn't forgotten the first bellow and the blasts of hot air that had come from the bull. Yet, despite every fibre of his being yelling at him not to do something that trumped the slice that had seen him come to Huran, he couldn't stop his body from slowly turning around. The massive armoured buck stood silently, glaring daggers at him. Lifting its right front leg into the air, it stomped on the ground four times; somewhat similar to what he had seen Twilight do on occasion when she wanted everyone's attention on her. However, the effect the four stomps had on the other animals was terrifying and, as soon as his brain had registered what was going on, his legs automatically started moving again.

The Y'lchn began to _run_.

TBC…


	23. Edge of Freedom

Chapter 23: Edge of Freedom

He never thought this was how he would die.

Squinting through the dust clouds around him, he tried to see where Dasur had gotten to as the animal under his feet tried to take yet another bite out of his armoured side. With the benefit of hindsight, he would later see that grabbing onto the nearest animal and swinging onto the armoured plates was not a very sound idea. However, as he had been engaged in life-or-death battles and rather inappropriate sexual encounters, he wasn't really thinking with the fullest extent of his brain. He had seen his Ultra Cycle trampled within seconds and had seen its emergency teleportation system kick in to transport it directly to the Ultra Cavern; it would be repaired by the ZARS in around an hour. He only hoped no one was around to see the cycle in its destroyed condition, lest they think the worst had befallen him. Wait…why was he using words like 'lest' and 'befallen' in everyday speech? Maybe the roar from the bull had unhinged something more inside his mind or something; he would cross that bridge when it came up. The only good thing he could think of was that Xristi had stopped trying to get his attention.

Based on the information he was receiving on the radar, coupled with the chatter from the Ranger-to-Ranger frequency on the communicator, the flesh creature was proving more difficult than initially thought. It had sloughed off several smaller creatures to attack the Rangers and it seemed to have a plan to tire them out. He wished he could be there to help them but he had a monster to destroy and a bracelet to recover. If only the Y'lchn would stay still enough for him to call on the Hellfire Armour…but that was probably a pipe dream that wouldn't happen. The best bet for him would be the Assault Armour or his Battlizer; though he would have to get closer to the creature for him to have any hope of destroying it. Shaking his head, he ran across the shaking bone plate and launched himself at the nearest animal, just barely managing to catch the rough edge with an outstretched hand. He needed to be faster, to be stronger and to be more sure of himself but with all the moving variables around him; that was proving to be easier said than done. Given the alternative was to duck and weave the rather poor attempts at attack…he sighed once more and readied himself for another leap.

Landing on the back of a female, he took a moment to look around him. The bull had been rather content to hang at the back and push the herd at him but it was always there. Taking another leap, he pushed more power to his legs and braced himself for the landing. They had been steadily getting easier to bear since he had decided to buffer his leg armour with the Power. For all he knew, Dasur could have navigated through the stampeding animals and made it to the mountain range but he doubted the dog would want his pursuer alive and kicking. Crouching low to gain some sort of stability, Weihan looked to the mountains in the distance. It was strange, how he knew he was getting closer to them but they seemed to be static and unchanging. What was also strange was how he couldn't really see the base of the mountains, even from the vantage point on the back of the Y'lchn. He could see the peaks and a good chunk of the middle but the base…and the ground also seemed to join into the mountains without any sort of transition. It was almost as if there as an edge of sorts…

Crap.

Closing his eyes as the animal thundered under his feet, he wondered why he hadn't noticed it the first time. Hell, even when he had entered the paddock he should have seen that something was off about the scenery but, in hindsight, it was very hard to do that when racing at speeds the human body was never meant to go at on a motorised unicycle. Falling off a cliff and going 'splat' at the bottom was not how he wanted to die for the second time. Shaking his head, he opened his eyes and pieced together a plan of attack; mindless jumping and running wasn't going to cut it anymore. Theoretically, his Ultra Crystal could keep him powered indefinitely but he was still limited to his body and how much of a beating it could take. Well, he needed to find out what his maximum threshold time limit was anyway and, if he fucked up, he could always use one of his Zords to level the area that Dasur fled to.

"Battlizer Power!"

As the dragon-themed armour slid over his body, the Orange Ranger moved. Leaping through the air, he spread the wings on his back and took off straight up. Dasur was still below him, that was a sure thing, but he could also see the city spread out around him. The Central Core Plaza still looked reasonably intact and, if he squinted through the glare of the suns, he could see the Rangers facing off against the pink and brown flesh beast. Making a mental note to not eat really rare steaks for a week, he zeroed in on his target. There, atop one of the lead animals, stood Dasur; the canine hench-thing scouring the skies for any sight of his opponent. Even from his vantage point, the glimmer of the orange and red Cerberus Crystal on his wrist was visible. A simple snatch-and-grab was out of the question as he doubted that he could wrench the bracelet off his arm, even with his Battlizer-enhanced strength. There was only one solution…though it was a bit messier than he would have liked.

"Ranger! I have the power to track you down anywhere you go and I will destroy your soul before I kill you! The Black Ranger and the Green Ranger will make very good trophies for my wall…after I am done hollowing them out and making you watch!"

Hollowing them out, that didn't sound very nice for all involved. If he had to watch the rape and disfigurement of them, he would go completely batshit insane and no amount of running away would stop him from turning into a creature that would eclipse Psychogre in brutality and Xonix in sheer evil. No, there was only one thing that needed to be done to prevent that horrific fate being meted out to everyone in the Universe. Steeling his mind and body for what he was about to do, Weihan tilted his body down and began his speedy descent. A plume of fire from his left hand solidified into the Raptor Blazer and he let the rays from one of the suns bounce off the sharp edge. He had given away his position but he didn't care and as Dasur lifted up his massive arms to stop him, he acted quickly and decisively.

Dasur screamed in rage as he flew off the back of the Y'lchn he was riding, shoulder-charged by the might of the Battlized Orange Ranger. Drasil had warned them that the upgrade of the Orange Ranger was not to be taken lightly but, unfortunately for him, he had thought that the cybernetic warrior was exaggerating. After all, it was practically routine for any defeated warrior to over-inflate his opponent's abilities; he had even done it on the rare occasion where his prey had been craftier than him. However, it seemed that, on this occasion, Drasil had been correct in his assumptions and his ignorance was literally smashing him into the ground. Deftly avoiding having his head crushed in by a panicked Y'lchn, Dasur groaned softly and shook his head as his ears registered the first of the squeals of fear from the lead animals. So his plan to lead the Orange Ranger over the cliff had blown up in his face, there was nothing new about that. He just needed to find a way to stall for time until –

The first slash caught him off guard and he felt a tuft of hair, maybe fur, fall from the top of his head. Rolling away from the weapon, he looked up into the impassive helmet of the Ranger and felt a cold trickle of…something run down his spine. Cerberus Crystal or not, it seemed that the Ranger was determined to kill him either way. Forcing the last dregs of power from the bracelet around his wrist, his features twisted into a grimace of pain as spears of bone burst from his shoulders and down his arms. There was a short gap in protection around the wrists but that shouldn't matter too much in the long run as he knew how to end the battle swiftly. Turning on his heel, he began running towards the cliff edge; leaping into the air to try to gain some ground on his pursuer. The first three bolts of fire streaked past his sides, igniting the fur that was just beginning to sprout from his skin. It was a strange and unpleasant sensation; feeling each individual strand of hair push out from his skin – only to burn to ashes within microseconds. Growling under his breath, he spun around and thrust his left arm out in the vain hope that something would happen to him.

"Game over."

White-hot agony lanced though his body as he saw, as if in slow motion, his still clenched hand fly off in one direction – the Cerberus Crystal still affixed on the wrist. Bellowing in pain, Dasur punched the ground with his other hand before spasming as the stored energy began to leave his body in fits and spurts. He had to retrieve the Crystal and his arm at all costs; hopefully the nerves and flesh would still be viable for it to be simply sewn back on. Glancing over his shoulders, he felt a pressure behind his eyes as he looked at the Orange Ranger. The damned human was standing there as blood dripped off his flaming blade in a physically impossible fashion. Shaking his head slowly, he felt his body begin to tremble as shock set in. Shock would make him more vulnerable to attack and that was something to be avoided at all costs! Where in the world was his hand? Looking behind him once more, he saw that the Orange Ranger was nowhere to be seen. Struggling to his feet, he took a shaky step forwards the strength left his legs, sending him tumbling into a small pile of dung.

"Looking for this?"

Dasur wiped a hand over his eyes as something hit the side of his head. Blinking through the foul-smelling muck, he peered at the twisted and charred lump on the ground before his eyes widened in horror. His hand was on the ground and, just by looking at it; he knew it would never be part of his body again. The hand itself was intact and whole, fingers jerking spasmodically as the nerves died; however, the wrist ended in an amazingly clean-cut incision that showed signs of extreme heat. If he dared look close enough, he would have seen that the bone, defying all known laws of physics, had melted into the surrounding flesh. Howling in sorrow and rage, he forced his body up on legs that felt like they would break at any second and focused all his hatred on the figure in front of him. He could feel the power that hadn't escaped his body writhing and crackling as it travelled into his chest, awaiting…something.

"Now, you die."

Weihan dismissed the Raptor Blazer and mentally commanded the wings on his back to fold into their inactive state. Channelling all of his power to his right foot, he crouched low to the ground and locked onto Dasur. His enhanced powers would ensure that even if the monster tried to run, the attack would still hit. The science and magic behind that feature went way over his head but he didn't really care for the little details. Anyway, if he needed to fly at crazy angles, he would pop the wings open and let them do their thing. Two words was all it would take for Dasur to be nothing more than a bad memory. Deeply inhaling, he spoke them under his breath.

"Fire Strike."

TBC…


	24. Descending Dragon

Chapter 24: Descending Dragon

Something up there had cursed him.

As he watched the fight play out in front of him, Weihan shook his head and wondered exactly when everything had gone so fucking pear-shaped. The Battlizer-enhanced Fire Strike had gone over better than he had hoped, his right foot slamming into Dasur's chest and sending the monster flying as flames erupted from his body. All right, maybe he hadn't known how close the edge of the cliff had been and it certainly wasn't his intention for the monster to take a literal swan dive off…but he couldn't really argue with the explosion he had both seen and heard a few moments later. On the other hand, what he could argue with was his failure to foresee the now-routine growth of the monster and prepare for it adequately. And yet, and this was something he really couldn't have forseen, he had to admire Dasur's tenacity and drive of self-preservation.

Watching the strangely building shaped Zord take a swing at the monster, Weihan wondered what strange power the Cerberus Crystal had bestowed upon Dasur other than the transformation and the power to the legs. He had thought he had seen everything that could possibly be thrown at him over his career as a Ranger but to see Dasur merging with the remains of the flesh beast…well; that was something entirely new. The new Dasur retained the same canine features as he had previously and his left arm still ended at the wrist but there were a few new additions that had been gained, thanks to the two monsters merging. The chest was protected by a shield of raw muscle tissue that seemed to sit over the fur. Every hit that was landed on the surface produced a rain of blue-green blood but the damage wasn't healed instantly. He really didn't want to know what the effects on the ecosystem at the bottom of the cliff would be and hoped he wouldn't be fighting mutated equivalents of Huran wildlife in the future.

"Damn you, Rangers! Fall in line and end me!"

It also seemed Dasur hadn't reacted to his growth and merging as well as most monsters would have. Something in his mind seemed to have snapped and he was taking as much precautions as he could to ensure that the Rangers took him down. Of course, that had been made slightly more difficult by the arrival of the Zords of the Huran Rangers…if they could actually be called Zords at all. The tall and blocky robots seemed to pack the power of a Megazord into their stocky frames but it had definitely cut into their speed and agility. Four of the angular robots lay on the ground, sparking as their repair systems attempted to cope with the nigh-catastrophic amounts of damage that had been sustained. Weihan hoped the Blue, Purple, White and Gray Rangers were able to get out in time and wondered what the consequences of 'accidentally' introducing a sample of ZARS to the shattered Zords would be. He would discuss it with Muitime tonight, provided he wasn't cornered by Zriac and Xristi again. As much as he was hoping for a repeat performance that was slowly stretched out, he had other things on his mind. One such thing was the Cerberus Crystal and how it seemed to be calling to him in a much stronger way; almost as if it were urging him to meld with its immense powers. Dasur reeled back for another attack on Droas' Zord, flesh bursting out of the left wrist to form a crude bludgeon, he found himself reconsidering his acceptance.

Zordon had once told him that knowledge and not power were needed for the victories to come. How that would even be possible, he still had no idea. Maybe it was too soon for him to be thinking about that but he needed to keep his eyes open for any sign of trouble. Wincing at the ear-splitting shriek of rending and tearing metal, he looked up at the Zords and wondered how they were doing…and exactly who had thought that building-shaped Zords were a good idea.

"Rakrost, the original Yellow Ranger, designed those Zords."

He jumped at the growling voice behind him, not having to turn to know it was Jabarkas. A few days ago, Weihan would have turned on his heel and impaled the warrior with the Raptor Blazer like he had done a few years earlier. However, now he just nodded slightly and let him speak of days and times long gone.

"He thought that if he made the Zords big enough, no overlord would want to make the monster grow and, for a time, it worked. It almost damned us as well because the size of each individual Zord made it impossible for them to be brought together. I mean, in theory, it would have been possible but there was all this talk about mass displacement and weight amplification…stuff that went over the heads of everyone. The connections are all there internally but with seven Rangers…"

He sighed, words trailing off into nothingness. The Ranger nodded once, as if he understood but Jabarkas doubted he did. Seven Rangers couldn't make a viable Megazord without it being too top-heavy. Eight Rangers could have done the trick but from what he had figured out, one of them had gone AWOL shortly before his daughter had taken up leadership. A few months after that had happened, the being calling itself Lidars had surfaced from the underbelly and had begun his stranglehold over the youths of the world. Pirating illegal technologies and working with known bounty hunters like Darkonda was one thing but creating a cult based on drug-fuelled orgies with minors? It was like he was veering wildly from one end of the 'evil' spectrum to the other; almost as if he was testing the waters. Jabarkas had to admit, he had attempted doing that when he had been forcibly drafted into Xonix's forces. It was only after he saw how dull it was that he had stopped the minor things.

The Zord of the Yellow Ranger crashed to the ground with a horrific screech of metal, punctuated by deep explosions coming from within the bowels of the robot. Deep gouges ran down the front of the Zord and strange blue and purple flames licked at the edges. The two remaining Zords nervously looked at each other, as if deciding who would be the one to attack next. Weihan knew that, no matter who struck out first, it would end the same – the Zords would be trashed and the two Rangers would be taken hostage for Dasur to play with. Taking a slow step back, he looked down at the Battlizer on his wrist and exhaled a shuddering breath. He knew what was needed for victory and, even though the call of the Cerberus Crystal was mentally deafening, he understood the path that had to be taken. In one fluid motion, the wings on his back sprang open and he felt his body fly up and away from the edge of the cliff. Closing his eyes until he had landed, he opened them to see that he was right next to the place where his Ultra Cycle had been trampled. Indeed, if he looked closely enough, he could see thin slivers of metal near a few torn-off limbs. Bringing the Battlizer to his chest, he closed his eyes once more as the sounds of battle erupted from the canyon once more.

The Elder had entrusted him with the Battlizer and he had used it to separate Xonix from Jabarkas and, presumably, destroy them both. The last-second teleportation of Jabarkas from the battlefield had truncated that plan but the mighty weapon had done its job. He would have been content with that, except a transmission had come through in the early hours of one September morning. If he hadn't been in the Ultra Cavern sorting through his memories of the supposed final battle and creating Simul-Deck training simulations, his mum would have found his duplicity out much sooner. It had only been a quick call to see who was willing to come with him on a cross-universe trip to see what the call was about. Only a few hours after the call, he had found himself face-to-face with yet another Zord for him to add to his arsenal. He had already lost track of the number of Zords that kept cropping up and he wished, how he wished, one of the others would gain more Zords of their own. On the other hoof, he had a strange feeling that the Zords he was receiving would have a greater purpose down the road.

The strange thing about his supposed power-ups was that every one of them seemed to limit him in some way. The Assault Armour granted him increased firepower while somewhat limiting his movement and agility. While powerful, the Hellfire Armour needed him to keep a firm grasp on his anger at all times – otherwise the power would decrease slowly. Use of the Battle Armour seemed to be the best bet for everything as it was the most balanced. He hadn't really seen any downsides to the Battlizer yet, but he was sure there was something in the back that was waiting to bite him hard in the ass. He doubted that as the Elder had stated that it was Zordon's final gift to him and he didn't think the ancient mentor would have intentionally designed something with a crippling flaw. Inhaling slowly, he checked all the connections were in place and primed to go. The last thing he needed was for something to go horribly wrong and doom the planet to destruction. A name floated out of the ether that was the Power and he smiled as the last piece clicked into place.

"Battlizer Dragonzord!"

His voice pulsed through the air as data flashed on the inside of his visor, too quick for him to see any individual words or numbers. The wings snapped out again and lifted him into the air, expanding and wrapping around him to form a cocoon of sorts. Much to the surprise of the Ranger, control panels rotated out from the inside of the wings and a seat of sorts rose up from the 'floor'. Weihan seriously wondered where all the extra machinery had come from, whether it was inside the fairly small wings or if it was something that had to be teleported in. As it was simultaneously making his head hurt and swim, he wisely decided to drop that train of thought before it got…wait, what was that sound? Looking behind him, through the cracks between the wings, he could see nothing but those sounds prevailed; rising and falling in a steady rhythm that reminded him of footsteps. Any doubt in his mind was banished as a screen slid out in front of him and showed him the source.

Two mechanical feet were pounding away at the ground; appearing with a flash as if they had just been summoned. The Orange Ranger saw them run behind the cocoon/cockpit and he stumbled on the spot as a sharp jerk somehow connected the disembodied feet with the cocoon. Slowly, the cracks in the cocoon, it was a cockpit now, sealed up as the Zord formed around him; the screen showing him exactly what was happening. Sturdy legs decorated with golden 'scales' connected to the tops of the feet, which connected to armoured hips and, in turn, connected with a broad chest. An orange and gold light pulsed through the cockpit, forcing him to close his eyes due to the brightness. He could hear other things attaching and locking into place and, even though the 'mental' connection had yet to fully materialise, felt the Zord around him becoming heavier.

Opening his eyes, he looked around him as he sat down on the transformed seat. The Tri-Spino Dragon Battlizer Zord was an absolute marvel to behold, both inside and out. The light from the two suns reflected off the armour and all three heads moved independently – as did the tails. The spines on the neck flattened and rose with each large movement, folding the sails down into the neck in a motion that felt wholly natural and realistic. He had seen the Zord once, floating through the barren wastes of space where the planet of Chysannas had once been…but to see it in the light of a binary system was another thing altogether. He knew that if the Zord looked magnificent to him and the Rangers; to Dasur, it would look downright terrifying. Grasping the two control sticks that slid up in front of him, he squared his shoulders and focused on the monster in front of him as the edge of the cliff came closer.

It was going to be a hell of a fight.

TBC…


	25. Unsettling Reveal

Chapter 25: Unsettling Reveal

Once again he was gobsmacked with the Power.

The Zord twisted through the air as it dove in for another strike, jaws on all three heads opening up to slash their teeth into the side of Dasur. As the wings beat once, the Zord took to the skies again as the tips of the tails opened up with their concealed blasters; streaks of orange light shooting through the air and exploding upon impact. Weihan whooped in delight as he lined up another shot, small explosions blossoming over the chest of the monster. In all honesty, he had thought the massive machine would topple into the canyon and become nothing more than a massive target for Dasur, but it seemed he had nothing to worry about. Powerful jets on the back of the Zord, just under the wings, had provided the initial acceleration needed to blast into the sky and the autonomous nature of the wings had done the rest. The blows from Dasur bounced off the armour and the Zord Invincibility protocol, the hardest of them only drawing tiny nicks and scratches that were repaired instantly. Drawing back from the monster, Weihan flipped on the thrusters and body slammed the monster with the strong chest of the Zord; necks arcing down to take bites from the neck and head of the canine.

He could see the Huran Rangers looking at the battle with amazement, Zriac guarding them with her mostly-intact Zord. The Rangers had climbed out of their out-of-commission battle machines and had taken off their helmets to fully assess the damage, so he could see the shock on their faces. He could also see the fear in their eyes as their minds finally began to understand the full strength of the enemy he was fighting against. Not Dasur, though the canine creature was stronger than the average monster and its continually warping flesh weapon was making things a tad more difficult.

"Whoa!"

He pulled the control sticks a fraction of a second too late and the Zord shuddered around him as two bolts of energy exploded on the chest armour, sending the mechanical Dragon crashing to the ground. There was no damage done but there was a time and place for experimenting with his Zord and, in all honesty, this wasn't it. Thanks to the mental link that had finally connected, he knew everything his Zord could and couldn't do. The finishing blow had something to do with a destructive beam being blasted out of all three heads at once on a manoeuvre called a 'Spino Beam' but the whole Zord had to be configured into its 'Firepower Mode'. Whatever it would look like, it would have to wait for now as Dasur stalked closer to the downed Zord. Twisting his sticks in a full-circle, both robotic tails whipped up and out striking Dasur's face and plunging into the skin. Tapping a few buttons on the control panel, he felt the cockpit shift and rotate as the claws on the massive feet finally gained enough purchase to lift the machine upright. To say that the freely-rotating cockpit was a bit disconcerting was almost like saying the death of the woman had slightly shaken him. Of course, he had other things on his mind to distract him.

"You dare use a symbol of light against me and my Master? I will rip you to shreds like I did the others!"

Dasur closed his mouth and looked at the dragon machine. He hadn't thought that the Orange Ranger was going to pull out one of the fabled Ultra Zords but, sometimes, it was good to be wrong. Taking another step towards the robot, a pained grimace flashed across his face for the briefest of instances; the flesh beast he had absorbed twisting and changing more of his insides. Merging with the beast hadn't been his idea as, given time and opportunity, he would have found a way to fight with only one hand but the remnants of the Cerberus Crystal energy had taken over. For whatever reason it had done that, he didn't know and a small part of his mind whispered it was better to leave that part unanswered. Much more disturbing was that he was starting to question his Master and the cause he was fighting to bring to life. The final objective wasn't the problem, to take control away from the Rangers was something that would be happening anyway, but it was the means that were being undertaken and the sacrifices they needed to make.

Shaking his head as the foreign flesh on his arm warped into a hammer, he thought back to the plan the Master had laid out to him for the events of the day. He was to break into the Royal Palace and travel down to the Royal Vaults, searching for an ancient relic that had been left there by the previous occupant and former King. How it had stayed in the Vaults for so long without anyone finding it was a question he had asked…but Lidars had told him not to worry about that small detail. Now that he was thinking about it, that wasn't really a small detail. Sidestepping a barrage of laser balls that came from the mouths of the Zord, Dasur swung the hammer down onto the central head, cackling wickedly at the way the head seemed to crumple in on itself –like a real head would do. The relief was short-lived as a silvery shimmer descended from the top of the head, repairing it before his very eyes. Growling in frustration, he stepped back and swung the hammer at its chest, the blow sending the machine flying back.

Infiltrating the Palace had been easier said than done as he had to use every single trick he knew to squeeze into the hole that the Rangers had created. He almost hadn't made it, which would have revealed the plan then and there…along with revealing him dying from rapid blood loss. Seeing as how sticking to the plan had resulted in him losing some of his blood…well, he wasn't going to dwell on that so close to victory. As the Zord struggled to right itself, Dasur grinned as he recalled his discovery of another secret passage that was disguised as a pitfall trap. He had even thought the trap extended down to the centre of the planet until he slammed into a rather flimsy net. After around ten minutes lying there in a daze, he had found the central passageway and, in time, the Royal Vault where the Cerberus Crystal was held. After that, it was just a matter of setting up a trap that would ambush whoever came down the hall after him, which would give him time to set off the photon bomb. He had no idea how a photon bomb worked or why the tech inside looked suspiciously like Ranger tech but the Master had told him not to worry about it. Still…knowing who his master was under his mask gave him a lot of power and if he was to be destroyed in the fight, as miniscule as that chance was, he would have the last laugh.

Letting those thoughts rest at the bottom of his mind, he walked towards the Zord and tried to ignore the strange stirring inside his body. The twisting and changing had long abated but it had been replaced with a strange itch. If he was a betting person, he would have put good money on it feeling like something was clawing out of him but that was a thought best suited to staying inside one of the bad holo-movies he had seen. Resting his weapon arm on his shoulder, he turned to the cowering Huran Rangers and looked over the damage he had done. The Master had informed him to cripple the Zords and not destroy them outright, though there wasn't really much that he could hold back against ambulatory buildings pretending to be Zords.

"I expected much more resistance than this! Perhaps the fabled Orange Ranger has finally lost his strength? Or has…"

He snapped his mouth shut as a wrenching sensation tore at his chest. He looked towards the Zord of the Orange Ranger, thinking that he had something to do with it, but was met with a rather blank look. Collapsing to his knees, Dasur beat his right fist on the edge of the canyon as the pain increased, dimly aware of air rushing inside his body. Arching his back, he howled in pain as a fist-sized circle of green and blue formed on his chest; somehow managing to appear over the armour that had formed from the merging. A few beats later and the spot and doubled in size, growing wider and wider as Dasur's eyes did the same. A thin spot of blood later was followed by a pale tube of some sort worming its way out of the hole, something that the canine monster felt from the inside. Yet, there didn't seem to be any other pain besides whatever it was in his chest; almost as if whatever it was had finished whatever it had been doing and needed an exit. Gnashing his teeth together, he felt his body tremble all over as the tear widened.

"What the hell?"

With a noise that was eerily reminiscent of wet cotton tearing, Dasur's chest ripped open to expel a small mass of flesh that was covered in a thin layer of blood. The wound sealed almost instantaneously and, much to the concern of the Rangers watching, the flesh began to grow. Weihan gripped the control sticks tightly as the features of the being shifted and changed, turning into a creature with an unsettlingly blank space where its face should have been. Never taking his eyes off the new monster that had appeared he pressed three buttons on the control panel simultaneously, holding them down for two seconds. Deep within the bowels of the Processing Core, the systems of the Meteor Masher flickered to life; the orange, white and silver Zord teleporting out of the hangar as its engines powered up. From her viewpoint in her Zord, Zriac allowed a faint smile to ghost over her face.

Under normal circumstances, she would have jumped at the chance to fight alongside the Orange Ranger but with the majority of her team's Zords down, doing so wasn't an option. Bringing up her long-range scanners, she could see her father at the site of the Royal Palace and shook her head slowly. He was the top warrior of the Ultimate Evil in the Universe and, yet, he hadn't made any sort of moves to convert her. She recalled overhearing something about him not wanting to have her on the Evil side, which was good in a way, but evil beings couldn't be trusted. On the other hand, he was her father and, while he may have given up any sort of familial claim by leaving the planet, she would do whatever was right by his standards. For a moment, she wished the Elder hadn't sent out the distress signal as things had been much better when the Orange Ranger hadn't come into their lives. Shaking that thought away, she knew that her blissful ignorance would have to have ended sooner or later and to have it end by being introduced to the strongest Ranger in the Universe was…breathtaking.

The spectre of her father had always lingered in the back of her mind and she had worried that her leadership had only been given to her because of it. It was only after long talks with both Elders and a few other members of the team that she finally managed to shake of the supposed stigmata…even if none of the others had known that one of Huran's greatest exiles was her father. Of course, it would be different now that Jabarkas had practically revealed everything. Pausing as the spaceship Zord delivered a barrage of laser bolts to the blank-faced monster, she looked down at the others on the ground. No, she decided, it wouldn't be different at all as she wouldn't be leaving Huran with her father; instead, she would be staying and helping defend the planet. After all, with the Rangers already short one member, the planet would soon be targeted by other forces of evil and the protection of the Orange Ranger could only extend so far…and, though she hated to admit it, his thoughts had revealed his soul mate to her. She hadn't meant to pry but with the boy broadcasting them extremely loudly; well, it was no matter to her. They would have to make the most of their time together and if Xristi wanted to join in again…she wasn't going to complain.

"Meteor Blaze!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Weihan flew the Dragon Zord to block Dasur from attempting to rescue his 'clone'. The Meteor Blaze wasn't the strongest finishing move the Astro Zord had but it was the only one that didn't involve a transformation into humanoid mode. Whipping the tails around to blast more energy into Dasur, Weihan opened a small screen at the lower-left corner of the 'Main Screen' and kept an eye on it. All of the gun ports opened up on the Zord, revealing the full arsenal of blasters, launchers and Gatling guns that were mainly used for ploughing through meteor fields. The blank-faced creature staggered back at the sight and looked fervently around for any signs of cover before the first shots were fired from the machineguns, striking against the chest of the still-forming beast in a spray of sparks. Muffled roaring came from the area where its mouth should have been before armour burst from its skin, taking on the appearance of what seemed to be a black business suit. The Orange Ranger felt a chill travel down his spine before the Meteor Masher began its assault anew; emptying its vast ammunition stores into the monster.

Dasur blinked in shock as the creature that had spawned from his body began shaking violently, being battered by the thousands upon thousands of bullet and missile impacts. It began to topple back, flames bursting from its body as it fell and Dasur rolled his eyes. Obviously, if the creature had had enough time to mature, it would have been stronger than that Zord. However, as the faceless monster was consumed in a fiery conflagration, it also sent a chill of fear down his spine. The Orange Ranger had some pretty powerful weapons at his disposal for a Ranger and might actually be too much for him to handle. The power he had leeched had all but drained away and he felt a deep ache in his body. No matter what happened after this moment, he wasn't going to survive the fight and, if by some miracle, he did, he could never return back to his old life. As the last remnants of his breakaway monster evaporated, he felt a seething anger begin to build.

Lidars had lied to him when he said he still had power and influence. He had lied to all of the followers he had swayed and the cyborg was the worst offender of all. Drasil had promised all of them a share in the planet and its riches. He hadn't been lying to the Orange Ranger when he said he would have the Rangers as his sexual slaves as that had been what was promised. And yet…even if he won, there was no way for him to enjoy the spoils of war. There was only one thing that had to be done in order to undermine the almost-complete stranglehold Lidars would have over the Rangers.

"Ranger, I propose a small wager. I will allow one attack to strike me head-on from a Zord of your choosing. Should it breach my defences, I will reveal to all the true identity of Lidars. It is only natural that, on the cusp of his victory, his true identity is exposed."

Weihan blinked as the full weight of the statement sunk in. Dasur was willing to divulge information about his boss but only if he could be hit with a powerful attack. That sounded extremely similar to the monster saying that he wished to die but, if it meant the difference between knowing and not knowing, he would take whatever advantage was given. Checking the ammunition stores on the Meteor Masher, he frowned under his helmet as he realised the only weapons with sufficient charge were the blasters. While that made sense on a technical level, knowing that the most powerful weapons of the Zord were out of commission due to ammunition constraints put a dampener on things. Moving the Meteor Masher into position, he began powering up the blasters to strike at Dasur. If he could catch the creature off guard…

Suddenly, a light blue stream of energy blasted through the air from the mountain range. It smashed against the underside of the Meteor Masher and ripped straight through the Zord; much to the shock of all watching. Hurriedly trying to take control of its failing systems to avoid having it teleport back to the Ultra Cavern, Weihan could only watch in muted horror as another blast of energy blew open the Zord's nosecone. The Orange Ranger tightened his grip around the control sticks as the crippled Zord plummeted to the ground in a shower of sparks, flames and – disconcertingly – metal fragments. Not even bothering to see the flash of light as the emergency teleportation protocols were initiated, Weihan rounded on the still-stunned Dasur and accessed the Firepower Mode without a vocal declaration of intent. Pulling back on the control sticks, the Orange Ranger opened up all physical and mental links of the Ultra Grid and his Battlizer as his Zord began transforming.

Panels opened up and swiveled out on the feet and legs, drilling into the ground to anchor the Zord on what flat ground remained. The tails flicked up once before slamming into the ground hard, the shockwave reaching as far as the Processing Core and the Royal Palace. The twin tails burrowed into the ground like metal snakes, whip-cracking once before extending rigid support structures to contain the massive recoil; the blaster tips opening up like flowers under the dirt and rock. Wings folding over the front of the Zord, Weihan found his vision obscured for a brief moment before the entire cockpit jerked back into the belly of the beast, bulkhead doors sealing areas to contain the pressure wave. Flipping the tops of the sticks to reveal the triggers, Weihan could see the three heads coming together, moths open, to create a large three-barrelled cannon. Bolts of energy crackled over the Zord as it began charging its attack; however, as it was being charged with the full power of the Ultra Grid, it could fire whenever he wanted. There would be no vocalisations of the finishing blow, just cool determination and calculation.

The energy torrent rocketed from the mouths, twisting to form a strangely spiral beam of red, orange and white light. Splashing against the chest of the monster, it looked, for the briefest of moments, as if nothing would happen. Pushing more power into the beam, Weihan watched the canine creature's features morph from calm to concern and, finally, to extreme pain. Pink and green tendrils of burning flesh burst from the edges of the impact zone in a vain attempt to heal the copious amounts of damage being done but it was too late. The searing beam of energy powered past the thick layer of muscle armour, smashing into its chest and bursting out of its back with a small shower of gore. Dasur felt the heat inside his body and opened his mouth to scream out the word that would reveal everything. Vocalising it in Galactic Standard would be too hard for him, given his extremely limited time so he would have to speak the word in Huran.

As the monster exploded in a massive ball of fire, Weihan slumped back in his chair with a sigh. Removing his helmet, he wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his left hand as the translators tried to make sense of the final word that had been shouted in Dasur's death throes. Judging by the shocked and stunned body language of the other Rangers, it wouldn't be long until he had a new piece of the puzzle to decipher. Glancing down at the orange and red crystal bracelet, he allowed himself one small moment of triumph at the day's events.

It had been a good day.

TBC…


End file.
